Best Equestrian Camping near Laramie, WY

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. 

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.

After driving for nearly 4hrs to find a spot in any of the first come first serve camp grounds up Poudre Canyon we started to head home only to pull into Pingree Park for one last cry for help... we stumbled upon Jack’s Gulch, a little hidden gem, tucked inside a cute mountain trek to the CSU campus at Pingree Park. It didn’t have any “water features” like a stream or a river but it was a quick car ride to find that. The spots were clean, noise was minimal, and there were bathrooms if you needed them. A lot of options as far as camping goes - electrical sites, walk up sites, equestrian sites, and mixed use (what I like to call a mixture of tent and RV). There were also trails all around the campsite that were accessible for bikes, or hiking. It was definitely a Father’s Day to remember. Oh yea, some coyotes at night definitely woke us up! I don’t believe they made it to the campsite but they were close 😳

To say we love Beaver Meadows would be a huge understatement. We spend just about every other weekend there all year long - winter and summer. We got married there in 2014 (as our photos show) and it was beautiful. The outdoor wedding area is amazing and right by a river. The reception hall for after is so cool with giant windows so you can look out in every direction on nature and you celebrate your big day. Ever since we've been hooked. They had cabins, condos, lodges, and camp spots so every guest had a place to stay the night.

When you pull around the corner and into the valley it takes your breath away every single time. Lush green fields, ponds, stunning mountain backdrops, wildlife, horses running free, people fishing and riding horses. It's a playground for adults and kids and it's only an hour from our house in Fort Collins - we can't stay away. They have a yummy restaurant too so we never even bring food - we just eat there.

In the winter we go snow tubing (12 + runs with a lift) and stay in one of their little heated cabins which is so cozy but also provides all the amenities of home (kitchen, bedrooms, entertainment, etc). We love to go up before a storm and watch the snow start to fall. In the spring and summer we are up there camping along the river all the time. Each site is unique so we like to change it up each time - we go hiking, horseback riding, and fish in the stocked ponds! There are some unique fish in there - really neat. In the fall we like to go up and do the "river walk" - a series of paths and bridges through tall foilage that feels like your in a different world. Watching the leaves change is awesome in the fall - compares to any drive you can do in the state - soooo many aspens.

If your looking for a romantic weekend with the significant other or a family vacation with the kiddos - I would highly suggest making the drive up - I bet you will fall in love with it just like we did and won't be able to stay away.

Hynds Lodge at Curt Gowdy State Park

Ranger Review: OOFOS Women's Recovery Gear 3/4 Zip- Charcoal at Curt Gowdy State Park

Campground Review:

Located within Curt Gowdy State Park between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming, Hynds Lodge includes a great hall, kitchen, modern restroom facilities, and an upstairs sleeping area. I spent a retreat weekend here with fellow hikers and ambassadors from the organization, Hike Like a Woman. It was the perfect spot for a quiet retreat with hiking trails nearby.

Nestled in between large boulders and evergreens, this spot is ideal for receptions, retreats, weddings, family reunions, and more. The lodge can hold up to 90 people and sleep 20. The great hall has a built-in stone fireplace along with three couches. The kitchen includes a gas stove, refrigerator/freezer, microwave, sink, cupboards and counter space. You will need to bring your own utensils and cookware, bedding and linens, as well as your own firewood. Additional chairs and tables are included for set-up in the great hall. The upstairs sleeping area contains 20 twin sized beds with mattresses. An attached covered porch with large picnic tables creates even more space for visitors, and a beautiful view of the surrounding rock formations and forest. A couple of things to consider here are there are no showers within the lodge, so if you're staying for an extended period of time you'll have to access showers in a different part of the park. And, cell phone reception is spotty at best. The lodge can be rented for $150 per day, starting at 10:00 am till 10:00 am the following morning. Guests are responsible for clean up.

Just a short walk from the lodge is The Amphitheater; a great spot for weddings, talent shows or musical entertainment. It can be rented for an additional $50 per day. Curt Gowdy also offers tent and RV camping sites along with lots of hiking trails, and SUP, canoe, and kayak rentals. Hunting and fishing are also permitted in designated areas. All vehicles must obtain a daily use permit; $4 per day for residents, $6 per day for non-residents. Reservations can be made through wyomingstateparks.reserveamerica.com.

While in the area, I highly recommend visiting Vedauwoo Recreation Area, located inside of the Medicine Bow National Forest. Famous for its amazing granite rock formations, it's approximately a 30 minute drive from the Lodge. Vedauwoo offers a variety of trails; some surfaced, some primitive, and climbing is allowed. It’s important to note that the road leading into Vedauwoo coming from Hynds Lodge is dirt and can be bumpy.

Product Review:

As a Ranger for The Dyrt, I get products to test from time to time. This time around I had the opportunity to test out the Women's Recovery Gear 3/4 Zip- Charcoal pullover from OOFOS.https://www.oofos.com/collections/apparel/products/official-apparel-half-zip-charcoal?variant=36083325641

1. While OOFOS is a company that offers a variety of shoes for outdoor/sports recovery, they also offer accessories which include shirts and pullovers. The 3/4 zip seemed like the perfect option for morning hikes and evening fires at the lodge.

2. The pullover is made from moisture wicking material and is quick drying; a good thing on this trip as we ran into light rain more than once while outside.

3. The pullover also has thumb holes, which I like. My hands get cold easily, so it's nice this garment has this option. I would have liked it if there had been a zippered pocket of some sort to stash keys or my phone. I did like that while it was form-fitting, it wasn't snug, and fit true to size.

4. The pullover fit nicely into my backpack and didn't take up much space. With cooler weather fast approaching, the OOFOS pullover will be be stowed in my pack for autumn hikes and nights around the campfire.

Late season camping in wonderful Wyoming is always a risk worth taking and the wife and I were treated to a great final outing for 2020 with our first visit to Curt Gowdy State Park.  We knew we were in for a good weekend during the second weekend of October when we met the staff at the visitor center.  She was helpful, knowledgeable, and even recommended her favorite spot on the water in the Tumbleweeds Campground, one of several great places to camp in the park. 

We were pleasantly surprised to find the favored spot open since it is walk up only in the park this late in the season.  The campground had a fair amount of people at the sites, which are remarkably well spaced and spotlessly clean.  We found the bathrooms that were open in the same condition, and trash receptacles were still available and being emptied. 

Our spot was perfect in every way, with easy access to the water, and a great view of the entire lake.  We set up camp in a brisk Wyoming "breeze" of about 20mph, but the weather was warm.  By nightfall the breeze was a 40mph "blow" but the sunset was a warm orange and gold tinged with smoke from wildfires in both Wyoming and Colorado. 

The next day we spent hiking the area trails and bike paths and recommend the jaunt along Crow Creek to Hidden Falls.  By Friday night into early Sunday morning the blow had turned into a full fledged gale of about 70mph and inside our camper was akin to being in the space shuttle on re-entry!  The wife was planning escape routes should we trade wheels down to wheels on the side.  But by Saturday afternoon the wind was gone and a perfect fall afternoon and evening was served up.  Sunday Morning greeted us with freezing drizzle and a skiff of snow making our Wyoming weather experience completely enjoyable.  This place is a great visit.

We stayed in site # T31 waterfront site with water & electric in the tumbleweed loop. Nice pull thru and we can slide our kayak in the water from our site & fish from it too. Nice park, there's a little hike near the Visitor center. There are showers at the visitor center where you enter & small restrooms through out.  We drove the campground around the lake and saw pronghorn sheep, deer, yellow birds and more. They had a little place you could get cooked food from which the food wasn't bad it was cooked in a trailer.  You can't swim in the lake but you can kayak in it. 

We went into town to the bunkhouse & yes had rocky mountain oysters. Being from Florida they are different than our oysters. 

Like they say if you don't like the weather in Wyoming wait 5 minutes it will change. It is windy in Wyoming at least when we were there. Nice park and a nice visitor center.

Beautiful area of Wyoming. The campground is clean and remote, but busy. There was a lot of beetle kill removal work going on when I was there, but I think that has slowed down some.  Nice trails close by and the lake is lovely.

Real cowboy Wyoming feel here, lots of fun nature to do and views all around. There are like a dozen different places to camp here, most require some driving on dirt and/or gravel roads to get to. Our sedan handled it ok but in the spring or muddy weather it could be impassable without 4WD. There’s only a few places for campers so if you have a tent you’ll want to bring it so can get closer to the really beautiful spots along the reservoirs. There’s an archery range so if you like to sleep in and/or not hear guns all day pick a campground and campsite far away from that. Anyway it’s an astoundingly BEAUTIFUL area.

We visited Curt Gowdy when multiple fires were burning nearby, so all our pictures are tainted with smoke. This facility offers campers two lakes and several different types of sites. Some are full hook-up and others are no hook-up. We had the latter, but were so happy with our spot. The park is primarily composed of dirt roads. There are so many different types of sites, from those with several trees, lake side, open, or group spots. Water is available for filling bottles, but not campers. No dump stations are open here, but Wyoming has dump stations at its rest stops along the interstates/highways for free. Cell service is unavailable away from the beautiful visitors center. Our campsite sat by itself, on a ridge next to the furthest away lake. It was beautiful and a worn trail at the campsite ended at the water's edge where we could store our kayak in the trees for the weekend. A small beach allowed for chairs to be set up at this spot as well. The lake offers fishing and kayaking. The real draw, though, is the IMBA mountain biking trail system that weaves throughout the park. The trails are well-marked and maps are easy to follow. Hiking is abundant as well. This park sits near Medicine Bow National Forest and has similar typography with awesome rocks, evergreens, aspen and creeks. Hiking is a pleasure in this environment. Our campsite was pull-through with a fire pit and table. There was a fire ban (for obvious reasons) during our September visit.

Curt Gowdy State Park is a great camping and recreation facility just west of Cheyenne, WY. It seems to be our home away from home, since we spend at least 3 or 4 weekends here every summer. The facilities are clean and well placed. The camping spots are spaced far enough apart that you are not on top of your neighbor, but close enough that you may hear the rowdy crews later in the evening.

We love CG because it is less than 90 minutes from our house and has quite a few recreational activities that we enjoy. The paddleboarding opportunities are immense on both reservoirs, as well as across the road in the cove. The mountain bike trails are top notch and provide endless miles of well groomed and sometimes techy fun. There is an archery range that is more than the 20-60 yard standard course. Get on the trails and find the 3D targets!!!

A word of caution regarding the local youth that have discovered they can come in to the park after hours to party and then scoot out at the break of dawn. The park is big enough that is difficult to patrol and allows for these popup parties to happen.

Also, the winds in WY are no joke. Be sure your tent is well staked down and your RV awning is rolled up anytime you are not near the camper.

Don't let this stop you. The welcome center offers spacious pay showers and there are a few hookup spots. Book early, if you can't get into the park during the week or at least by Thursday afternoon for FCFS spots.

We enjoyed fishing right from our campsite but didn't have much luck. It was easy to travel around and try other options. Our site was right on the road which experienced fairly high traffic at times. Also the paths down to the lake were very steep. All of the staff we encountered were wonderful. Will be back.

It snowed the night before our arrival, do the crystal blue lakes really stop out. The views were really good from most sites we could see. Of course, early in the season. There were only 2 other campers on this Thursday.
Pros: some electric sites, nice hiking, great fishing, kayaking/SUP, really pretty welcome lodge, generous size sites most with lake and mountain views. We did see cabins. Park is very clean. Close to 2 major interstates but you feel like you are in the backcountry. Cons: no water at sites, but fill Station available. Only pit toilets. Expensive- electric sites $27 PLUS $12 per day per vehicle. $96 for annual non residents pass for 1 vehicle.

Camped here overnight in August 2020 on our way back to Georgia from Montana. I made the reservation on the drive down and there were plenty of sites available. You must have a reservation between May 1 - September 30. However, our site was very difficult to find in the dark when we arrived. The map was very confusing and so were the road signs. After 20 minutes or so of driving all around the lake with no luck in finding out campsite, we were almost about to give up and just pick a random one. Finally we found the loop we needed. We stayed in loop “Silver Crown” in site S-53 Since we still couldn’t find our reserved site, S-55. S-53 was in the middle of a field at the top of a small hill. There was a picnic table and fire pit at the site and the bathrooms (no showers) were nearby. Plenty of room for both of our tents but offered no privacy. The boat ramp for the lake is close by so expect activity early in the morning if staying in the summer time. The next morning we found our original site closer to the water. We were afraid to drive down that way because at night it does look like you may drive straight into the lake. It was just so dark and I wasn’t impressed with signage which is why I give it 4 stars. There are pull through sites and back ins. Just look online and pay attention to the map when you reserve your site!

Second time staying here. Tent camping and a rooftop tent. We stayed on the north causeway. We had the peninsula spot which was the best spot in that area. Beautiful lake and wildlife. Wish I had fishing gear with me. The staff keep this park clean. Thank you to them! Will be back.

Stayed here during the week and it was not crowded at all. Great hiking trails at varied levels of ability. Only issue was access to potable water and no RV dump.

We stayed at Curt Gowdy - Crystal Loop #C167. Having no neighbors and private lake access was fantastic. However, you are right on the main road with cars going by throwing dust at you day and night. The access to the water here was also very steep. Would recommend moving to the campsites further up the road. Was windy but some protection given our location. All staff were friendly and helpful. Enjoyed the folks at the camp store. It's a quick trip for us with plenty to do. We'll definitely be back.