Curt Gowdy State Park

Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming is 2 hours from our house in Denver. So after a summer of intense heat and forest fires that kept us from using the RV we decided to venture forth this fall as the temperatures cooled down. What a cool place! I can't believe I didn't know about it sooner. Almost all the sites are on the two reservoirs. We chose Crystal Reservoir for our first night.


The pups wait for us to get level.

We want to go hiking!

Behind our site things are a bit bare. But were off the main road a bit and get some shade during the day so we are happy.


There was a boat launch near our site. The reservoirs are popular for boating and fishing.


Our first hike is to explore around the reservoir.


We hike up to the dam and then part way on one of the trails. However we didn't bring flashlights so have to head back as the sun sets. The reservoir was excellent for star gazing at night because the city light of Cheyenne and Laramie were far away.


The next day we go around the reservoir. I estimated it would be between 5 and 6 miles. We brought 4 bottles of water. Unfortunately we weren't paying much attention and the water we bought was in much smaller bottles than normal.


This is on a trail with many ups and downs. It is designated as an expert level mountain biking trail. However we saw no one on it at all. I do not think it would be popular with mountain bikers because of all the places you would have to carry your bike. However it is an excellent hiking trail if you don't mind alot of ups and downs.

This is the view of the dam access road. You can see we've hiked quite a long way behind the dam. We've also just crossed the access road at the bottom where the river used to run before it was dammed.


This is the view of the back of the dam that we saw the day before from the front. Were now back up higher again.


At the end of the hike you spend some time going round some finger offshoots to the reservoir. It is at this point you wish for a bridge.


Unfortunately we got a late start on our hike so were hiking from 9 until noon. Even though it was cool out the sun was too intense and I got a head ache. Because I couldn't shake it we came back home and will have to try this reservoir out again on another day.

Summary of our first trip of the season

I loved this trip. It was very educational. We did not have time to take the RV out for a trip before hand to make sure everything was working and we had all our gear on board. But we had no problems whatsoever during the trip and we remembered to bring everything. I am constantly amazed by the good quality of our RV. We only had an electrical hook up for one night, at Fort Robinson. The rest of the time we were dry camping and it was often cold. Our furnace runs easily off the battery through the night, we use as many lights as we like, I can take a nice hot shower, we cooked on our grill, in the microwave (off the generator) and on the stove top. Everything was just perfect!

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument

Our last stop on this trip was to the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. This was a fabulous little last minute addition to our trip. Very nice video and explanation of the fossil beds as well as good displays.



An unexpected bonus is this national monument is located on the ranch of James Cook who was a great friend to the Indians. He received many gifts which are displayed along with their history in the national monument building.



The road home through Nebraska.

Fort Robinson Nebraska State Park

On our way home we stopped at Fort Robinson a Nebraska State Park. This is an interesting place. Very oriented toward kids. I was impressed with all the activities. You could sign up for horseback riding ($16-$22), pony ride for kids 5 and under ($2), tubing down the river ($10), kayaking ($12.50), a stage coach ride ($2), take a meal at the dining room, attend an outdoor steak cook out ($18 adult, $8.50 children), go to see a play at the play house, play in the river going through our campground, swim at the pool ($5), play tennis on the courts, ride bikes around the grounds, attend a cookout ($9 adult, $6 child), visit the free museum, visit the pay museum, or take a jeep tour to see the scenery ($10) . It was kind of like going to a dude ranch in Colorado without paying the high $$$$s and had a wider variety of activities. I think it would be a great family destination. Most things had a fee but they were very reasonable.

We had a lovely camp site for $24 with electric (this included the state park fee).

Many of the sites are tight but we got one with a huge side yard. The grill to the left is for our spot.

The free museum covers the history of the fort.

It is such a shame that it was involved in the terrible treatment of the Indians in this region at the time. So that is kind of depressing to read about. But you have to admire what Nebraska is doing with it to make it an affordable vacation option for families.
Link to info about Fort Robinson:
Fort Robinson

South Dakota Air and Space Museum

We stopped at the South Dakota Air and Space museum. There is a bus tour there to the local air force base which visits a missile silo also. While we didn't take the tour I think it could have been interesting. The museum however is very interesting. There are alot of aircraft outside with informational signs. Inside there are alot of displays with video and informational signs. This is all free and well worth a visit.

Prairie Homestead

I really enjoyed our visit to Prairie Homestead. This site has a short video about the family that originally homesteaded this sod house, prairie wear for those who want to dress up and take pics and a tour of the original sod house and outbuildings. You can also pet the goat and see some ponies. A fun and educational stop. Especially for those of us who had read about sod houses. It is very interesting to be in one and imagine what it would have been like living there.







Their gift shop was my favorite of the trip.

The Badlands

After our missile silo visit we toured through the Badlands National Park.

What can one say about the Badlands? It is spectacularly bad land. It was named for it's difficulty in crossing.