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Curt Gowdy State Park
Curt Gowdy State Park is located in the beautiful state of Wyoming and has a rich and interesting history. It is located 24 miles west of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and 24 miles east of Laramie, Wyoming. It was renamed in 1971 after the famous sportscaster Curt Gowdy. It was established through a lease with the City of Cheyenne and the Boy Scouts. The park is 3,395 acres which are roughly 5.3 square miles (Curt Gowdy State Park).
When most people think of Wyoming they think of vast herds of bison, cowboys, and Indians. The land that is now a part of the Curt Gowdy State Park was a favored campsite for the Comanche, Crow, Pawnee, and Shoshone Indians while they searched for bison. Other tribes visited the area also like the Iowa, Cheyenne, Sioux, and Arapaho in search of the great bison herds and other migrating animals. In the 1860s the arrival of the Union Pacific caused the Native Americans to be moved onto other hunting lands as their land shrank and their presence diminished into oblivion on the land now known as Curt Gowdy State Park (Curt Gowdy State Park).
Nearby Curt Gowdy is the historic Ft. Laramie which was one of the most important, of the western military posts. Ft. Laramie was a haven for gold seekers and weary emigrants. The discovery of gold in California and the lure of rich land in Oregon brought increasing numbers of pioneer wagon trains over the Oregon Trail and through Wyoming. Many of these trials were already established by the Native American tribes. Pony soldiers came to protect the wagon trains from hostile Indians. And the soldiers established forts along the trials. It was also part of the Pony Express and the Overland stagecoaches. It served as a very vital military post in the wars with the Plains Indians. This land witnessed the growth of the open-range cattle industry, some of the bloodiest of the Great Plains Indian wars, the coming of homesteaders, and the building of towns, and all of this marked the final closing of the wild western frontier in 1890 (Native Americans in Wyoming).
It is easy to understand what the Indians saw in this breathtaking land, and why it is now a park. It has gently rolling hills with massive steep granite formations which are offset by low-lying meadows and abundant wildlife. The low-lying meadows are around 6,450 feet with mountain-top highs of over 7,500 feet. The combination of the granite formations, beautiful reservoirs, and clearly mapped trails gather people to this land year-round. There are seven sections of richly varied landscape, flora, and fauna that decorate the foothills of the Laramie Mountains (Curt Gowdy State Park).
There are three reservoirs in the park they are Granite, Crystal, and North Crow. Granite Reservoir offers excellent kokanee salmon fishing and rainbow trout. Crystal is the smallest of the reservoirs and you can only fish from the shoreline but it has brown trout, rainbow trout, and kokanee salmon. The reservoirs are stocked by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. However, there is no swimming allowed at any of the reservoirs. Also within the park is the Hynds Lodge with an amphitheater that is available for concerts, theater productions, and other activities. One of the main attractions in the park is a place called Hidden Falls it is a waterfall at the west end of Crow Creek Trail. The waterfall is aptly named because it is hidden in a small rock canyon that you have to hike into to see. When the water is really high you have to wade through waist-deep water to get close to the hidden waterfall. When the water is lower it is easier to access. Right under the waterfall, there is a deep swimming pool that people of all ages like to carefully jump into. The waterfall is definitely worth the hike and getting wet for it is truly beautiful like something out of a Disney movie (About – Curt Gowdy State Park).
Other activities available at the park are, biking, boating, camping, cabin rentals, picnicking, horseback riding, hunting, and wildlife viewing. Hiking and bike riding are two of the main activities at the park and there are over 35 miles of trails to enjoy. The trail system goes from Granite Reservoir to Crystal Reservoir. The trails are well-marked and easy to access from the main roads. The trails get very busy in the warmer months so the sooner that you are on the trailhead and headed out the less likely you will be to run into other hikers until you are headed back to the trailhead that you started out on (About – Curt Gowdy State Park).
In conclusion, Curt Gowdy State Park has a rich history and is a rich land that has drawn people throughout the ages. There are many attractions to this park that make it one of a kind. It seems to have something for everyone from bird watchers to history buffs. It boasts over 35 miles of well-maintained trails for all kinds of fun activities. It also has three reservoirs for fishing and other water activities except swimming. You might come for the activities but the views are what you will remember with soaring granite formations and beautiful meadows around pristine reservoirs.
