Basics
- Length:
- 29 miles (46 km)
- Time:
- Allow 45 minutes to drive the byway.
- Fees:
- No fees to drive the byway.
Description
Snowy Range Scenic Byway follows Highway 130 for twenty-nine miles through the center of Medicine Bow National Forest. A high-altitude drive, it offers you an unforgettable introduction to the mountainous West as it winds through the Rocky Mountains. Here, you'll embark on an extended adventure that encompasses three primary points of interest.
Visit Vedauwoo and embark in some intense climbing. Located in the Laramie Mountains, it features strange shaped pedestal rocks, composed of Sherman Granite that dates back nearly 1.5 billion years. Due to the grandeur of these rock formations, many Native American people once revered this place as sacred.
Explore Medicine Bow National Forest, which encompasses parts of the Laramie, Medicine Bow, and Sierra Madre mountain ranges. A mild climate and sunny skies dominate summer months, creating an ideal setting for outdoor fun. Explore the thick forests by hiking, horseback riding, or mountain biking. Go fishing in one of many alpine lakes and streams filled with trout. In the winter, you'll find yourself in a snowy solitude. Well-marked trails and hundreds of inches of powdery snow entice you to hit the slopes. Stride cross-country or zoom on a snowmobile across 300 miles of trails and wide snowy fields in this region. Thick, iced-over lakes provide ice skating or ice fishing.
Stay overnight at Ryan Park Campground, surrounded by aspen trees. Formerly a Civilian Conservation Corps camp during the Great Depression and a prisoner of war camp during World War II, it has since been revamped. Follow the interpretive trail that leads to the foundations for the old prisoner of war buildings and learn about the history presented on the signs along the way.
As you drive the Snowy Range Scenic Byway, you'll wind through the massive Medicine Bow Forest on a mountain drive that offers views of gigantic granite peaks, glittering lakes, and thick forests. Exploring this region will place you in a new element where almost any adventure is accessible.
