Best Dog-Friendly Camping near Cheyenne, WY

Beautiful rolling hills along the water with tons of hiking trails. Boating and fishing is a major attraction but not one we didn’t have a boat. There are many different camping areas along two reservoirs. They are all pretty similar in terms of views and amenities, as far as we could tell. You can drive up to all of the options. Great stargazing and wildlife (pronghorns!) and not far from Cheyenne. Mostly locals here so if you talk with your neighbors you can get some great insider tips.

It’s an open area, ie no shade and it’s simple boondocking (which we like). Peaceful, open area, minimal sites with good views and also had some horse petting time.

We stayed at Cheyenne RV Resort by RJourney for 6 nights while we worked remotely and needed a stable spot for the week. The park was very straightforward all sites were pull-through, which made setup and departure easy.There was a decent amount of space to walk our dog around the perimeter of the park, and while there's a small off-leash dog run, we appreciated the multiple poop bag stations throughout. We were able to receive a couple of Amazon deliveries without issue, which was a big plus.We didnt really interact much with the staff, so cant speak to that part. The showers were a bit tight but were clean and heated a nice touch. Theres also a gas station just down the road for any quick essentials.Overall, it was a solid and easy stay. Nothing fancy, but also nothing to complain about. We'd stay again if we pass through Cheyenne.

Curt Gowdy is the perfect campground for all ages and all types of campers. The best part is the plenty of activities they offer and you'll have access to. Bring your water toys, bow (for the archery course, which is super cool), hiking gear, bikes...you name it! There's a little store on site in case you've forgotten or run out of something. They have parks for kids and pets are allowed on leashes. Some sites are more covered in shade than others. The downsides are that you have to book to reserve super early in the year since they fill up fast and they only allow two structures per site unless you get a group site. That makes it hard to invite friends to come along unless you can commit up to months in advanced.

Curt Gowdy State Park, Cheyenne Wyoming 

Located between Laramie and Cheyenne, about 25 miles to each. We stayed at the Tumbleweed Campground. If you enjoy stargazing,  you'll be amazed. There are no campground lights to interfere and campers keep lights to a minimum. We had a cloudless clear sky to enjoy the heavens. One of the most awesome night skys I've seen. Would love to be here for meteor showers! 

This area has electric and water. The sites are gravel and mostly level. Each site is totally separate with great views of the reservoir. There's a nice picnic table and firepit. Vault toilets. Really nice tiled showers (takes quarters) and flush toilets are available 24/7 at the Visitor Center up the road. Boondock and tent campgrounds also available.  Staff super friendly. Camp store has the basics. Nice mountain bike and hiking trails. Popular intermediate hike to waterfall, 4 miles rounddtrip. Fishing, picnicking, kids play areas. 

We stayed on a Sunday night in April and we were able to get a campsite with no neighbors as far as the eye can see. There are long-drop bathrooms dispersed throughout the park that are pretty clean and have TP. The roads are gravel but in good shape and we had no trouble pulling our small travel trailer through the park. All facilities are free but they have a Dropbox at the entrance humbly requesting a $5-$10 donation to help the park maintain the facilities, which is very reasonable.

The only reason it received 4 stars is that there are multiple train tracks across the road and we were woken up 3 times between 11:00 and 6:00 by train horns blaring a bunch. Not just a regular “toot toot” but a “blaaaarn! Look out! Blaaaaaaaaaaaaarn” as if there were a deaf cat on the tracks 4 miles away. It didn’t overall ruin the night or anything but it sure does throw you off when you’re in happy dreamland then all of a sudden a hyper-aggressive freight train is chasing you through the dream.

I’ll reiterate that it was a great campsite and our dogs loved the freedom to run around our site off leash and we would stop here again for sure.

We travelled to Vedauwoo on a suggestion from friends and were tremendously surprised by the beauty of the area nestled between Cheyenne and Laramie.

We camped on the dispersed area just to the east of the campground in a pleasant spot in the trees and boulders a good distance from the dust of the road. One of the great things about dispersed camping in this area is it affords some distance between campers and gives you a sense of your own space.

August weather in Wyoming is plenty warm during the day and cool in the night and it met our expectations. The fabled Wyoming breeze was actually less than expected. The only drawback was the fire ban in effect due to the wildfires in both Wyoming and nearby Colorado.

We would encourage visitors to explore the various trails as each one we set out on rewarded us with magnificent views and the surprise of a swift creek feeding a number of picture perfect beaver ponds.

This is a great camping area and is close enough to Laramie for any needs. Vedauwoo is well worth a visit. Thank Wyoming!

Great section of national Forest between Cheyenne and Laramie. Easy access off the interstate. Lots of atv traffic but otherwise quiet and easy to find your own spot away from 'neighbors'

Right near downtown Cheyenne which is perfect for a day trip. The people at the BBQ and front office were great. Sites are perfect fit for a 50 foot rig. Bathroom and laundry very clean and usable. BBQ was great and we enjoyed our dinner that night :-)

This review is for the abundant dispersed camping, not the two official camping loops.

I love this place. With an asterisk. This seven mile dirt road is filled with sprouts of other dirt roads that is stunningly beautiful and fairly quiet. Beautiful spots to camp and you can tuck yourself away behind a rock formation and far from your neighbors. 

Great rock formations for climbing, mountain biking, abundant Aspen trees for your hammock and right on the edge of Curt Gowdy State Park, which has a broad network of wonderfully maintained mountain bike and hiking trails and plenty of motorized and non motorized water sports. Showers and flush toilet bathrooms and a camp store can be found in here in non-COVID days. 

The animal life is great too. We've had moose and pronghorn deer right at our campsite. And that gets me to…the asterisks. Not only are moose around, but so are mice. In 2 of my 7 visits here we have taken on mice. The last time it was a lot of mice. I mean a lot of mice. I now carry mouse traps with me because of this place. We had tens of mice inside our camper for two days straight. Eating our food and gnawing on wood. Ended up bringing some of them home with us too. The cat got 3. I trapped another 5. Our garbage can was like a Civil War photograph for mice. Also, this place has become popular and can get a little overrun on the weekends with people running generators, shooting shotguns and running around on OHVs. Hard to be more annoying. Last, Wyoming is synonymous with wind. So be prepared for that possibility.

Leave no trace (and run no generators)

The cliffs and rocks here are lovely and there are some hiking trails. The campsites are pretty open and since there aren’t too many trees the tents seem really close together. Great views though so you don’t feel penned into some trees like at some camp sites. Not too far from Laramie or Cheyenne (or the Lone Tree) and a good place to stay for a few days if you’re exploring the Medicine Bow.

Curt Gowdy State Park is a peaceful spot situated between Cheyenne and Laramie. The park features a number of amenities for those looking to enjoy hiking, biking, fishing, and water sports. Trails are abundant as is the wildlife that surrounds much of the park.

Sites are mostly dirt / gravel with a few concrete pads depending on which loop you choose for you stay. We camped on Silver Crown which has no hookups, but was a great spot for capturing plenty of sunlight on our solar panels.

To put it plainly, this is a great spot to boondock. We will be back.

These sites are very beautiful and are very well spaced. Road past the established campground is VERY rough with a camper in tow. Hard to find the designated sites in the dark so arrive before nightfall. This area is clearly open to grazing and cattle come through and there are some cow pies, but no big deal.

Only stayed one night. Wish we could have stayed longer. Some people clearly are regulars and it’s easy to see why. Looks like a good bouldering and rock climbing destination.

Some sites are closer to Happy Jack Road, which is a beautiful scenic backroad between Laramie and Cheyenne.

As you enter Cheyenne there are plenty of signs directing you to Curt Gowdy State Park. Our GPS agreed with the park instructions to take us out of Cheyenne on I-25 then onto Happy Jack Rd, which leads you up the mountain to the State Park. The signage was less plentiful as we turned left and passed under the big Curt Gowdy State Park sign over the road. We followed the road up to the visitors’ center and registered then proceeded as told down to Tumbleweed pull-through site 24, which was water and electric. As we got into the Tumbleweed area, we realized our door would be facing the road and the utilities by pulling in that direction. So we decided to pull in the opposite direction, which we had to go back up and make a tighter right turn to get us back on the road to put us into the pull-through with utilities on the driver’s side. We were then able to pull into site T24 with no issues. This gravel site is at a bit of a downhill angle, but we were able to auto-level. The pad was plenty long enough for our 40’ 5th wheel and F450. The water and electric(50 and 30 AMP) were more toward the back of this pad, but we had no problem reaching to hookups. The water pressure was around 40 psi. We got 1 bar on Verizon, but there was a clear shot either north or south for satellite. In our case, north for Starlink. We had a cement pad with a concrete picnic table plus a nice-sized fire pit off to the side. We were not too far from the reservoir with a nice lake view from the right/door side of the site. We were here in the middle of the week and the park and campground were about 3/4 full, but by Thursday the CG was filling up and the reservoir much busier with boats and jet skis. We enjoyed our stay here to include some pretty good shore fishing for trout.

Beautiful area with lots of spots. We did find it hard to get one but we came late on a Friday. We were able to find a better one the following day. About equal distance to Cheyenne and Laramie approximately 25-30 min Beware: there is not a place near by to get beer or alcohol. There’s a small gas station with a convenience store but other than that not much for food or supplies even though their sign says “cold beer”. Lol. We learned that the hard way and had to go out at night to get our supplies! The star gazing is amazing and we saw lots of wildlife even with other campers close by. The spots are spread out but not totally isolated. I was worried about the condition of the roads based on other reviews but we were fine. We hauled our 14ft trailer with no problems. Some areas you just have to go super slow but mostly no issues traveling through.

While the park initially seemed promising, our experience quickly took a turn due to ongoing electrical issues and unprofessional management. Staff were not only rude but also inconsistent and overly strict with selective enforcement of rules. For example, we were told our dogs' leashes were too long, despite seeing several others with dogs off-leash or on even longer leads—some reaching the road. Our dogs remained within our designated area at all times.

There was also constant confusion regarding what was allowed outside—one day items were prohibited, the next they were permitted, all while others had the same items out without issue.

For the price range of $1,500 to $25,000, we expected a far better experience. Save your money and consider a quality hotel or a well-managed RV park instead. We will not be returning.