git remote branch

gistfile1.txt

$ git branch -a 
* master 
origin/HEAD 
origin/master 
origin/v1.0-stable 
origin/experimental 
If you just want to take a quick peek at an upstream branch, you can check it out directly: 

$ git checkout origin/experimental 
But if you want to work on that branch, you'll need to create a local tracking branch: 

$ git checkout -b experimental origin/experimental 
Now, if you look at your local branches, this is what you'll see: 

$ git branch 
master 
* experimental