The Angel at Devils Gate

Highlights: This short hike is long on attractions: interesting geology, abundant moose and beaver, boiling brookies, but most of all, fascinating archeology.

Location: In the southern Snowy Range, west of Foxpark, entering the Platte River Wilderness

Elevations: Official, four wheel drive trailhead, 8,850’; Douglas Creek:7,950’.

Two wheel drive trailhead on FS 580, 9,188’; Douglas Creek:7,950’.

Distance: From official trailhead, 2. 8 miles each way. From FS 580, about 3. 8 miles each way.

Maps: Medicine Bow National Forest, “The Platte River Wilderness” free Forest Service pamphlet, USGS Quad Elkhorn Point

Trailhead: From Cheyenne, Wyoming take I-80 to Laramie, take exit 311, following WY 230 southwest to Foxpark. Turn right on FS 512. After crossing Douglas Creek stay on 512, making a sharp right. Two wheel drive or low clearance vehicles should turn left on FS 580, continuing until the junction of FS 514. Park at the junction. Four wheel drive, high clearance vehicles can continue to FS 506. Turn left and follow this rutted narrow road to 506D. Turn left again, continuing about ½ mile to the Devil’s Gate Trailhead.
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Headquarters Trail, Sherman Mountains, Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

Highlights: A mountain trail that follows the spine of the Sherman Mountains, traveling through conifer forests and open meadows, passing rugged rock formations with frequent expansive views.

Location: Near the summit rest area of I-80, on the eastern side of the Pole Mountain Unit of the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Elevations: Summit Trailhead 8689′, high point 8856′, south trailhead, 8376′

Distance: Three to four miles, end to end.

Maps: USGS Sherman Mountains West quad; Medicine Bow National Forest Map

Guide: Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest; Bill Hunger’s The Hiker’s Guide to Wyoming.

Trailhead: Take I-80 west from Cheyenne about 37 miles, exiting at the summit rest area, exit 323. The Summit Trailhead is to the right on Forest Service 705 just beyond the rest area parking lot. (If you’ve hiked it before you’ll see that the trailhead has been moved about a quarter mile further to promote revegetation of the old trail.) To reach the south trailhead turn left from the I-80 exit on Happy Jack Road (WY 210). Continue five or six miles, turning right on FS 707. The trailhead is about two miles on your right and is well signed.

The hike: This is a well marked (with posts) and well maintained National Recreation Trail, blazed originally in 1868 by William Lovett. It is surprisingly wild in spite of being so close to the interstate. From the Summit Trailhead the route climbs a little, then begins its journey along the side of the rocky granite ridge of the mountain. After about a mile the route divides, with the right fork going out to a grand overlook. The trails come together and travel through ponderosa pine forests, aspen glades and open meadows. Browns Landing is a broad park worth exploring. Brown was an outlaw road agent who kept his hideout here prior to the coming of the railroad in 1869.

The trail enters the trees briefly before it makes its steep plunge down the west side of the mountain. It drops 480 feet in three quarters of a mile bringing you to the south trailhead. This trailhead is at the edge of what once was the Pole Mountain Military Reservation Headquarters.

Pointers: You are not likely to find water along the trail so you will need to carry all you need. This place can be very hot in summer, so spring and fall are best. Keep an eye out for mountain bikers who use the middle section of trail, coming in from the Tie City trailhead.