Take the RV and hit the open road in Wyoming knowing you can stop for the night and need not worry about a place to sleep. The shortest of Wyoming’s Interstate Highways, I-90 cutting across the northeast corner of the state from Sundance to Sheridan, is also one of the most scenic routes. This highway rolls over the western edge of the Black Hills, passes near Sundance Mountain and then traverse the northern edge of the Powder River Basin before flanking the east face of the Bighorn Mountains.
You will find campgrounds in all of the communities. Those of particular appeal include Devils Tower KOA, just outside the boundaries of the nation’s first national monument (which will celebrate its centennial in 2006) west of Hulett, and Keyhole State Park (both north of I-90 and accessible on U. S. Highway 14). Buffalo and Sheridan have multiple RV parks and you will find that the area is a good place to park for a few days to explore Indian war sites, museums and enjoy the art at the Bradford Brinton Memorial west of Sheridan. You can hike or fish in the nearby Bighorn National Forest.
From Buffalo turn your rig south on I-25. You’ll have a chance to visit Kaycee with its Hoofprints to the Past Museum before continuing on to Casper, where several campgrounds/RV parks offer full services. You can explore the National Historic Trail Interpretive Center, Fort Caspar (which has an adjacent RV Park), the Nicolaysen Art Museum, Werner Wildlife Museum, and nearby Casper Mountain (where you can camp at Beartrap Meadows, site of a July bluegrass festival).
Continuing south on I-25 visit Edness Kimball Wilkins State Park just east of Casper.
Southwest Wyoming Commanding Officers' Quarters - Fort Bridger State Historic Site, Wyoming Fred Pflughoft
Fort Fetterman is near Douglas, and Glendo State Park is near Glendo with RV parks in Glenrock, Douglas and Wheatland to provide you with a “home base.”
Interstate 80 stretching across the southern portion of the state between Pine Bluffs and Evanston parallels the Union Pacific Railroad, which gave birth to several communities and ultimately the Wyoming Territory as it pushed west in the late 1860s. You will find railroad history all along the route peppered with such attractions as an archaeological site at Pine Bluffs, cowboy and Western heritage museums in Cheyenne, frontier and territorial prisons in Laramie and Rawlins, and plenty of recreational opportunities all along the route. Detour from the interstate between Cheyenne and Laramie to visit Curt Gowdy State Park or Vedauwoo. Follow the route of the Overland and Cherokee Trails between Laramie and Rawlins. Cross the Great Divide Basin and Red Desert from Rawlins to Rock Springs and enjoy the Green River at a white water park or Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area near Green River. Step back into the era of the mountain man and military at Fort Bridger. There are RV parks in each of these communities ranging from one on a buffalo ranch at Cheyenne to a pastoral setting east of Fort Bridger at Lyman.
From the interstate highways, you can also access some of the best recreational areas in Wyoming including the lands of the Medicine Bow National Forest of I-80 in the south, the Bighorn National Forest west of I-25, and the Black Hills National Forest along I-90 in the northeast.
Realize that although some RV parks are open year around, many in Wyoming are seasonal operations open from late spring through late fall.
Candy Moulton is the author of Roadside History of Wyoming. She makes her home near Encampment, Wyoming.
Nothing stokes a hearty appetite like an adventure-filled day in the great outdoors. Whether riding horseback along the Continental Divide or rafting the Snake River, Wyoming visitors often find they get hungrier here than they do at home. read more
The Bridger and Teton national forests merged and became one national forest, bringing nearly 3.5 million acres and the present six ranger districts under one supervisory headquarters. read more
