Biking the National Forests By Kurt Repanshek, Member, American Society of Journalists and Authors
Biking trail near Laramie
Southeastern Wyoming seems to be little more than a vast sweep of high plains. But look closer and you’ll discover sprawling national forests that nurture mile after mile after mile of mountain bike trails that will thrill any level of cyclist. So toss your bike shoes in with your cowboy boots and be prepared to ride when you enter the Cowboy State.
Day One: Happy Jack and “Land of the Earth-Born,” aka Vedauwoo
Midway between Cheyenne and Laramie rises a boulder garden of monumental proportion, a rocky landscape laced with single- and double-track routes. Known as “Vedauwoo,” this slice of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest is named after the Native American word for “earth-born,” and you just might feel that way pedaling around the towering walls and outcrops of rock.
Among the favorites here is the Turtle Rock Trail, a three-mile loop that negotiates slabs of Vedauwoo’s rockscape. The single-track trail, which is shared by hikers, also cuts through aspen groves and past beaver ponds.
After you’ve warmed up at Vedauwoo, point your car six miles west on Interstate 80 to the Happy Jack recreation area and its abundance of trails. From the Lincoln Monument parking lot (Exit 323) you can roll onto the Headquarters Trail, named after the Civil Conservation Corps headquarters camp based here in the 1930s. Link the Headquarters Trail to the Summit Trail and you’ll have a six-mile loop that offers stunning views north, south, and east to the Vedauwoo area.
Still got some pedal left in you? Then head a mile west along the Happy Jack Road and pass through
Mountain biking Tom Moran
the Tie City trailhead. From here a four-mile loop through aspen glades and fir trees knits together the Pole Creek, Aspen, Roller Coaster and Blackjack trails. If that’s not enough, there are many more combinations you can string together to stay out until sundown.
Day Two: Tackling the Snowy Range
About 30 miles west of Laramie stands the Snowy Range, a gorgeous stretch of mountains thick with trees, streams and lakes… and mountain bike rides. A popular downhill ride is the North Fork Trail, which crosses the North Fork of the Little Laramie River. The trail’s upper end, which is the best place to start, lies along Brooklyn Lake Road. The 4.4-mile-long trail cruises through an open park-like setting before dropping into a steep ravine that cradles the river. Switchbacks take you down to the river, where bridges help you cross it.
The trail ends in the North Fork Campground about five miles west of Centennial on Highway 130. Due to the trail’s downhill nature, it’s best to use a shuttle system for this ride. Or, drop the kids off at the top and drive down to meet them in the campground.
Closer to Centennial are the Little Laramie and Corner Mountain loop trails. Both wind about seven miles through forests of aspen, spruce, Douglas fir and lodgepole pine. Bobbing up and down across the landscape, the trails never prove too intimidating for novice and intermediate riders.
Ambitious bikers can start the day at the top of the North Fork Trail, then follow the Sand Lake Road down to the Little Laramie Trail and, if you still have energy, cruise back down Highway 130 to the Corner Mountain Trail.
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