We love heading to higher elevations when we camp to stay cool, but we don't head up I-70 much any more because of the traffic. But Wyoming is a fun alternative! A few weeks ago we had planned to head into Wyoming, but found out a few hours before leaving that the campground was still closed due to snow. After doing a quick search I stumbled upon Curt Gowdy, and we had a great weekend!
Curt Gowdy State Park
Curt Gowdy State Park is just off I-80 in Wyoming and surrounds two reservoirs with great fishing. One of the reservoirs allows boats, and the other does not. There are lots of opportunities for water sports though – we saw lots of canoes, kayaks, and SUP’s on the water all day. You can also rent canoes, kayaks and SUP’s onsite for $20/hour.
🎣 The kids really enjoyed fishing in the reservoirs too. I don’t think they caught much, but they had a great time, and probably would have caught more if they had gone out on the lake (instead of on the shore).
🚵🏻♀️The park is very well known for their mountain biking trails, as they should be with more than 35 miles of trails in the park, including four mountain bike play areas and mountain bike skill areas. My husband and eight-year-old daughter went on a blue trail and they had a blast!
The state park has a beautiful visitor center, with helpful volunteers and educational exhibits. I recommend stopping in there at least once during your visit to get some additional info and maps of the park.
🏹 We drove past the archery range and trail several times, and were very curious about it, so I did some research when we got home and found out that it’s a 28 target field course about two miles long in a wooded area. I didn’t know something like that existed! We’d like our kids to learn archery and will definitely come back to Curt Gowdy when they do to try the archery trail!
Campground
The campground has about 80 sites, including reserved and non-reserved. The sites are spaced out around the reservoirs, and it’s hard to see without going back on narrow dirt roads by the reservoir. We went down many of the roads, and would have been fine on any of them pulling our 24-foot trailer. But it seemed a little dicey as we arrived at dusk. (Note that each little loop sometimes has a campground name, but there are only 2-4 sites on each one, it’s a little deceiving.)
We arrived on a Thursday night and had a hard time finding a spot. There were at least 5-6 sites open before noon the next morning, and a few were available Saturday morning as well. We camped three nights and had a new camp site neighbor every night we were there, so the sites do tend to turn over. I’d recommend going first thing in the morning to find a spot, not in the evening!
Many of the sites are right off the reservoir, which allows you to drop in water toys you’ve brought with you right from the camp site. Our site ended up being across the road from the water, and the kids enjoyed playing in the meadow and riding their bikes.
Find a detailed map of the campground here.
Hiking
All of the mountain bike trails are dual purpose and can be hiked on as well. But Curt Gowdy is especially known for the hike back to Hidden falls. It’s about a four mile in and out trail full of great terrain. The kids weren’t bored with a flat trail, but it was easy enough for them to make the whole thing without whining too much. There are some large boulders to scramble over near the end, and they loved that. And the waterfall at the end is a fantastic destination for a mid-day picnic!
You can see the trail maps here.
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Check out our Family Travel Guide for lots more of fun adventures to have with your family!
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