Rock Creek – Deep Creek Trail, WY

Highlights: A lovely, long trail following the creeks of a deep, shady canyon.  It’s a popular place to stretch out because it’s so easy to get to, so well constructed and the surroundings are so peaceful and expansive.  The trail was given National Recreation Trails certification back in 1979 and along with the recognition received funding for lots of neat little bridges.  The recent Forest Service plan recommends the area be designated Wilderness.   An optional spur leads to Crater Lake, a spring-fed gem embraced by towering granite walls.

Location: The northern reach of the Medicine Bow Mountains, near the town of Arlington, 40 miles west of Laramie.

Elevations: Arlington trailhead, 7,920’; Deep Creek campground trailhead, 10,066’.

Distance: 12 to 13 miles from end to end, one way.

Maps: Medicine Bow National Forest; USGS Arlington, White Rock Canyon, Morgan and Sand Lake quads; Forest Service pamphlet “The Snowy Range Hiker.”

Guide: Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest – Third Edition, Bill Hunger’s The Hiker’s Guide to Wyoming.

Trailhead: To reach Arlington from Cheyenne, WY, take I-80 90 miles west to the Arlington exit (#272).    Go south on FS-127 1-1/2 miles to the trailhead and parking.  The Deep Creek campground is on FS-101, which can be reached from WY-130 about four miles west of Centennial or from the Arlington exit by going 1-1/2 miles west on the south service road to FS-111, taking it 13 miles to FS-101, where you turn left and go 1-1/2  miles to the campground.

The Hike: The description will begin at the bottom, at the northern trailhead near Arlington.  Rock Creek spreads out broadly here, a sheen of shallow, silver water.  The canyon stretches for miles ahead, a deep, broad “V” cut 1,000 feet into the rock.  The hillsides are open sage, pierced by rock outcrops; the trail floor soon leads into the shade of a mature aspen grove.   A moldering cabin and tailings pile mark the site a of miner’s failed dream. But yours has just begun.

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Huston Park Continental Divide Trail

Highlights: This hike is a resplendent walk along the Continental Divide Trail where it weaves together a succession of verdant meadows, each a vast, rich, colorful carpet of wildflowers rimmed with pines, rising and falling along the gentle crest of the southern Sierra Madre Mountain range.

Location: West of Encampment, Wyoming in the Huston Park Wilderness area of the Medicine Bow National Forest.

Elevations: Red Mountain Trailhead, 10,067′; high point, 10,500′, Pipeline Trailhead, 9, 190′/

Distance: Entire trail through Huston Park Wilderness is 13.5 miles one way. The hike is out and back as far as you wish to go.

Maps: Forest Service brochures “Medicine Bow National Forest Continental Divide National Scenic Trail” and “Huston Park Encampment River Wilderness Trail Map”, Medicine Bow National Forest Map, USGS quads Red Mountain, Solomon Creek

Guide:Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest – Third Edition

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Savage Run, Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

Highlights: A walk across the length of the 1st Wilderness Area in the Medicine Bows, established in 1978. The trail passes through three distinct areas. The first is through one of the few remaining old growth lodgepole forests in the area with huge trees and a park-like savannah in between. The second crosses some large wet meadows, filled with sunshine and life. The third and final is a long ramble along the tumbling Savage Run as it makes it’s way through the deeply forested, v-shaped valley.

Location: On the western slope of the Medicine Bow Mountains.

Elevations: Trailhead 9,400′, Forest Boundary 7,725′

Distance: 9 miles from end to end, one way

Maps: Medicine Bow National Forest, USGS Overlook Hill & Keystone quads

Guide: Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest – Third Edition, Erik Molvar’s Wild Wyoming, Forest Service pamphlet “Savage Run Wilderness”

Trailhead: From Laramie take WY 130 west to WY 11 south to Albany. Here WY 11 becomes FS 500. Continue west about 14 miles on this long gravel road past Rob Roy Reservoir to FS 500.3A. Turn to the south and continue 1 ½ miles along this rocky track to the trailhead and parking. A high clearance rig is advisable for this last bit. Cars can park just off the road.

The Hike: The trail begins in the desolation of a clear cut but then steps into a magical forest primeval. This is the way the Medicine Bows must have looked when the first trappers entered the Native Americans’ world, before the loggers claimed it as their own. Majestic lodgepole pines are widely spaced, the floor open, the brush cleared by fires that barely licked the trees. Take some time to wander in these woods.
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Encampment River Trail, Medicine Bow National Forest, WY

Highlights: This trail – a glorious walk along the Encampment River – is a gem, a sapphire. The river is a turbulent, wrestling rush of water, splashing its course down the narrow canyon. The upper reach is in the deep shade of fir and spruce, the lower runs through an open hillside of sun and sage, alders, wild flowers and wildlife. This is the finest canyon trail of the Medicine Bow National Forest. The lower four miles are in a BLM wilderness study area, the upper twelve run the length of the Encampment River Wilderness, established by congress in 1984. At 10,124 acres, it’s the smallest wilderness in the state. This one is for hikers, no bikes allowed, and it’s not an ideal trail for horses because of the narrow tread and the overhanging boughs.

Location: The eastern side of the Sierra Madre range, just south of the town of Encampment, Wyoming.

Elevations: Odd Fellows Trailhead, 7,800′; Commissary Park Trailhead, 8,900′

Distance: About 16 miles from end to end. A trailhead at Purgatory Gulch allows a hiker to split the trail in two sections.

Maps: USGS Dudley Creek, Encampment; Medicine Bow National Forest Map; Medicine Bow National Forest “Huston Park Encampment River Wilderness Trail Map” (pamphlet)

Guide: Marc Smith’s Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest, Bill Hunger’s Hiker’s Guide to Wyoming, Erik Molvar’s Wild Wyoming.

Trailhead: It is a 140 mile drive from Cheyenne, WY, taking I-80 west to Laramie, exit 311, then southwest on WY 230 into Colorado (where it is CO 127), north on CO 125 back into Wyoming (where it continues as 230 again) to Riverside. At Riverside turn west on WY 70 through Encampment. Less than ¼ mile past Encampment a BLM sign (Encampment River Trail) points to the south. Take this well graded, gravel road two miles to the Oddfellows trailhead and campground.
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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.