Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Vedauwoo Natural History Site

A beautiful day to be out on the trails. Rosie and I headed down to Cheyenne to check out an area I had read about, but never before visited. Vedauwoo Natural History Site which is owned and managed by Laramie County School District and Laramie County Community College. I had read about it on the website/blog "Away From the Grind" and they refer to this spot as Area 242.  

It was an uneventful drive southwest into Cheyenne, though the wind blew the car around a little bit. After fueling up in town, we made the drive to this spot, located just outside of Curt Gowdy State Park. There is a gated road that leads into the natural area. We parked in a wide spot near the gate (making sure not to block it) and then hit the trail by passing through a stile. 


The road/trail branches twice. Each time we took the left fork.



The views from the road were very nice, featuring scattered pines and distant views of the type of rock formations that the Vedauwoo area is known for.

At the point where road ended at a turnaround, we followed the sign posted there down to a small pond.




Rosie and I enjoyed the view of the pond and then headed through a lovely picnic area, 

on the trail signed for the waterfall.


Along the way we passed an old stone structure,
and lots of blooming pasqueflower.


We made our way down to Crow Creek and of course Rosie had to wade in for a bit.

Besides pasqueflower, there was lots of other early blooming flowers to be seen.



We eventually made our way to the waterfall, really more of a cascade. It was pleasant, nonetheless. 

The trail continued past the waterfall and got a little more rugged and difficult to follow. It passed through diverse habitats including riparian areas near the water, open fields and dry, cactus studded barrens. 


We crossed the creek on a small, wood bridge and then climbed steeply out of the little canyon we had descended. Once back up on the prairie edge, we passed through an education area, followed a road for a bit, and then made our way back to the pond for the final ascent back to the car.



I had planned on checking out the High Plains Arboretum today also. However, upon arrival I noticed that pets are not allowed. Instead we headed into town where I got lunch at Weitzel's Wings

and a beer at Blue Raven Brewery.


No comments:

Post a Comment