Sand Creek National Natural Landmark

 After my visit to the Territorial Prison State Historic Site and a delicious lunch at Jay's Prairie Rose, I made my way south of town. Stop one was the ruins of the Fort Sanders Guardhouse.

Soldiers at Fort Sanders helped protect Union Pacific Railroad workers who were building the transcontinental railroad through the Laramie Plains in 1868.

From Fort Sanders, I made my way further south to an area on the Wyoming/Colorado border called Sand Creek National Natural Landmark. The area features sandstone formations reminiscent of those that can be found in southeast Utah. Many of these formations lie on private property but can be viewed from a county road that traverses the area.

However, there is one small section of public land on the border of the Chimney Rock Ranch that I walked around and explored for a bit. It featured lots of interesting rock formations, 

natural arches 

and views of Sand Creek.

I climbed to the top of one of the rock formations that offered views of the creek and was treated to the sounds of elk bugling somewhere down below. After about 20 minutes enjoying the view, I headed back to the car for the drive back home. Sand Creek was an interesting, lesser-known area that I would like to return to with Noelle and Sierra some day.