Wyoming

Curt Gowdy State Park

Wonderful state park just 45 minutes from Cheyenne with hiking, biking, boating and fishing. A great base camp for visiting the Snowy Range.

Camping Price: $28

Campsite Type: With Electric

Entrance Fee: None

Entrance Price: $0

  • ✅ Camping
  • ✅ Electric Sites
  • ❌ Water Sites
  • ❌ Sewer Sites
  • ✅ Showers
  • ✅ Bathrooms
  • ✅ Water Available
  • ❌ Dump Station
  • ❌ Laundry
  • ✅ Visitor Center
  • ❌ Camp Store
  • ✅ Pets

Location: Southeast

Address: 1264 Granite Springs Rd, Cheyenne, WY 82009

Phone: 307-632-7946

Official Website

AT&T: Poor

Verizon: Poor

T-Mobile: Unknown

Starlink: Good

Curt Gowdy State Park

Introduction

This park is close to I-25 and I-80, just 45 minutes from Cheyenne and 30 minutes from Laramie. It's a great jumping off point for exploring southeastern Wyoming, including the Snowy Range of the Medicine Bow Moutains.

The park is open year round and ice fishing continues throughout the winter.

Insider Information

View from a kayak on the lake

Curt Gowdy State Park is a great location for a short stop over while traveling I-25 or I-80 or for a longer stay to allow for fishing and hiking.

Note: If you plan to put your boat, kayak, paddle board, blow up inner tube, etc. in the water in Wyoming, you'll need to have it inspected and you'll need to purchase an AIS sticker. The inspections are usually setup at rest areas near the state borders. AIS stickers can be purchased at Walmart and other sporting goods stores. This is all to stop invasive mussels from infecting the waterways.

Note: There is a 15hp limit on the reservoirs.

Not specific to Curt Gowdy State Park, but Wyoming allows overnight stays at rest areas and there is usually a decent set of services available at the rest areas. For instance exit 4 on I-25 has potable water, dump station, space for big rigs and a visitor center with bathrooms.

If you don't plan to boat or fish, there are enough trails to hike or bike to keep you occupied for a couple days.

Cheyenne Frontier Days is held each year in the mid to end of July. It's a very popular rodeo, parade, concert and carnival type event. Campsites and even hotels are very hard to come by during this time, so plan accordingly.

Camping

Campsite view from the trail

The campsites are a mix of dry camping and sites with electrical so check the site listings carefully when making a reservation.

Those with big rigs will probably want to stick with the sites on the north side of the main reservoir since the road between the north and south sides is a bit narrow and steep.

There are potable water stations scattered about as well.

Amenities

Ice fishing in January

There are flush toilets and showers at the visitor center, but the rest of the park has pit toilets scattered throughout. They are usually clean and well maintained.

I believe the showers at the visitor center are the paid type that require quarters but they do have individual locking doors.

Activities

Lake view from hike

There is a lot of wildlife that can be viewed in park, but you'll mostly see mule deer and birds. The main attraction at the park is the reservoir for boating and fishing.

Hiking all the trails in the park may take a few days and have nice views of the hiils and lake.

Nearby

Big Boy #4014

Cheyenne is only 45 minutes away and has all the services you would expect from a small city. There are two Walmarts (which allow overnight stays), a Home Depot and a Lowes. There are also lots of fast food and non-fast food restaurants.

Cheyenne Frontier Days is worth visiting if you are in town in July.

Cheyenne is a historic Union Pacific city and is home to the only working Big Boy steam locomotive (#4014). You can also visit another Big Boy (#4004) sitting in Holiday Park.

Laramie is only 30 minutes away to the west and is a smaller city, but still has great restaurants and services.

The Snowy Range is close by for some great hiking in the Medicine Bow Mountains.