Vedauwoo is best know for its varied rock climbing options. When i was in uw army rotc in the mid60s we did explosives training at the old pole mountain military reservation hq blowing up the old concrete foundations at the request of the forest service. Whether you choose the user fee areas with some amenities or further astray amongst the many bewildering rock forms found throughout the general area, one is assured of a unique experience found only at vedauwoo. A more scenic route is on happy jack road state highway 210 to vedauwoo glen road unpaved. Vedauwoo is an area of rocky outcrops sherman granite located in southeastern wyoming. Despite the infestation of pine bark beetles beginning in the later 90s, camping is still available. Virtual tours in wyoming from our state parks to national monuments, wyomings scenery and towns have a diverse.
The rocks at vedauwoo crystalized in precambrian time, 1. Find the faces and shapes in the rocks and animals that are camouflaged in their environment at vedauwoo, wyoming, which is located in the medicine bow national forest. Vedauwoo is a group of spectacular granite rock formations rising out of the thin soils on pole mountain. Vedauwoo is a group of spectacular granite rock formations rising out of. The university of wyoming is unusual in that its location within the state is written into the states constitution.
Learn more open your mind and invigorate your senses because some things cant be explained, only experienced. Besides climbing, there is a variety of other activities to be found here such as hiking, biking and camping. Vedauwoo in medicine bow national forest laramie, wyoming. This is a fan page for anyone that has ever camped, partied, climbed, hiked, or picnicked at vedauwoo, or even just enjoyed it while passing by on i80. The climbs of greater vedauwoo, wyoming rob kelman, skip. Mountaineer, tells about his experiences at vedauwoo in his adventure book, rocky mountain adventure collection. The photographs on this page were taken on april 5, 2001.
Its like garden of the gods wyoming style tripadvisor. The wyoming national guard, then the 115th cavalry regiment horse mounted, used the area for annual training during the 1920s and early 30s. Vedauwoos sherman granite is one of the first rock units of precambrian age to be documented in wyoming. Youll see why they believed it was a spiritual place when tons of. I did a short hike it was windy and a little bit wet typical wyoming spring. Selected fulltext books and articles wyoming, a guide to its history, highways, and people by writers program of the work projects administration in the state of wyoming university of nebraska press, 1981. Fall wall, glen dome, and the nautilus are only a few of the rock formations that have made vedauwoo wyomings top destination for climbers of all levels. See more ideas about wyoming, cheyenne wyoming and cheyenne frontier days. The enormous sherman granite rocks are made of pink feldspar, white quartz, black specs of horneblende and other minerals such as mica. Wyoming is the 10th most extensive, but the least populous and the 2nd least d the western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the eastern rocky mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the high plains.
Maps, brochures, passes, permits, books, and schedules for interpretive programs are also available at this visitor center. During the pageant vedauwoo receives an education in wyomings natural wonders and its history, such that he is transformed into a worthy man to marry the redhaired spirit goddess, miss wyoming. Prominent in local legend, stories say the rocks were piled up by playful spirits and later the many nooks and crannies served as hideouts for western outlaws evading capture. It does not attempt to be a comprehensive history, but the pictures convey an extraordinary story of how the life of the mind emerged in a bawdy.
Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet. These rocks represent some of the oldest rock in wyoming but are still. For more information on the history of the area, visit their website at. An aesthetic street scene on burano island near venice. Your guide to the hidden history and old west haunts of colorado, wyoming, idaho, montana, utah, and nevada.
Find the faces and shapes in the rocks and animals that are camouflaged in their environment at vedauwoo, wyoming, which. It provides backdrops for picnics, sightseeing, hiking, mountain biking, camping, rock climbing, fishing, snow shoeing, and crosscountry skiing. The rock making up vedauwoos characteristic hoodoos and outcrops is the 1. The name vedauwoo comes from an arapaho indian word meaning earthborn spirits. Some of the most beautiful natural sculptures you will see are found just 27 miles west of cheyenne in the medicine bowroutt national forest.
So figure on 20 minutes uphill past the summit and beyond to vedauwoo. Grouped together in large granite towers, the huge granite blocks have been smoothed and polished by windblown sand. Opening day at vedauwoo is generally around may 15. You are allowed to park outside of the gates and walkinto the park weather permitting prior to. The vegetation is a variety of limber pine, engleman spruce, douglas fir and aspen. In addition to hiking, climbing, and scrambling among the boulders, families can ride horses, bike, fish, and camp. Campground and road opening dates can vary depending on seasonal variability, current status of vedauwoo recreation area may be obtained by calling the laramie ranger district office at 307 7452300. The climbs of greater vedauwoo, wyoming by skip harper and rob kelman 1994, paperback at the best online prices at ebay. The lesson being that an appreciation of natural beauty develops spiritual beauty. Vedauwoo recreation areas gravitydefying rock formations are naturally equipped to entertain climbers, hikers, campers and others in pursuit of outdoor recreation known to the arapaho indians as land of the earthborn spirit, vedauwoos pronounced veeduhvoo protrusions of sherman granite were shaped by millions of years of icy, windy and wet wea.
A short, exciting western, one that i can indulge in the early morning hours, when i rise, reading over coffee. From cheyenne, go west on i80 to the vedauwoo road, exit 329. The campground is composed of two loops, winding around the boulders, slabs and cliffs of the vedauwoo rock formation which comprises 10 square miles of weathered sherman granite. You are allowed to park outside of the gates and walkinto the park weather permitting prior to the opening date. In addition to watching dancers twist and turn from ropes dangling from vedauwoos rock formations, the audience will listen to a musical story of the history of the rocks, animals and. Very informative, easy reading in surprising depth, well organized and chronologically accurate.
The university of wyomings 2009 snowy range summer theatre and dance festival concludes aug. Its name, according to some, is a romanized version of the arapaho word bitoowu meaning earthborn the area is within medicine bow routt national forest and includes a dayuse picnic area and an. View more property details, sales history and zestimate data on zillow. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from march until october. The native americans named this area vedauwoo pronounced veeduhvoo. Information, maps, permits, and guidebooks for planning adventures at western parks, forests, refuges and wildlife areas, historic sites, wilderness areas, lakes and. Overlooking dense pine directly below and endless plains under the wide open wyoming skies, you can see up to 75 miles south. Vedauwoo is an arapaho word meaning land of the earthborn spirit. Prominent in local legend, stories say the rocks were piled up by playful spirits and later the many nooks and crannies served as hideouts for western outlaws. The native americans named this area vedauwoo pronounced veeduhvoo, which means land of the earthborn spirits.
And 30 years after that, cheyenne frontier days debuted as area cowboys competed for the honor of top hand. This is a popular area for climbing, bouldering, hiking, biking, picnicking, and camping. Defying gravity up to 500 feet in the air, these ancient rock formations were created by ice, wind and water. Uw vertical dance returns to vedauwoo wyoming arts council. Exploring vedauwoo, wyoming and more with skip harper. Maps, brochures, passes, permits, books, and schedules for interpretive. This is the current guidebook for vedauwoo wyoming. This book sets the standard for user friendliness with enhanced digital imagery to show where the routes really are, and there are 475 routes from 5. These priceless documents includes historic settlements, western trails and much more. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash. Wyoming folklore presents the legends, local and oral histories, and pioneer stories that defined the state in the early twentieth century.
Hidden secrets of vedauwoo and pole mountain, part 2. These rocks represent some of the oldest rock in wyoming but are still more than a billion years younger than the tetons. One of andersons most significant contributions to offwidth history was coaxing the fierce and intimidating local bob scarpelli over to the ways of. Geologist nelson darton in 1910 named the granite after union army general william t. Dekay, selfpublished, 1936 now part of the hebard collection, american heritage center, university of wyoming archives. Thybony, rosenberg and rosenberg, caxton printers, ltd. Vedauwoo is an area of rocky outcrops located in southeastern wyoming, united states.
The university of wyoming uw is a public landgrant research university in laramie, wyoming. Location there are two possible routes that access vedauwoo from fort collinsboth drives take about an hour. Interesting and well done from a geologicalhistorical standpoint, climbers view on the evolution of. By acting responsibly, we can maintain wyoming as a wideopen safe haven and source of inspiration. A treasure of wyoming history by elmer kim nelson this book is a rich and wonderfully evocative pictorial history of the university of wyoming and necessarily the surrounding town of laramie. For beginners to experts with a variety of climbing from slabs to chimneys. Cheyenne magic city of the plains seemingly sprang into existence overnight in 1867 when railroad tracks stretched into town. It is an area of fantastic granite rock formations located in the laramie range on the medicine bow national forest in southeast wyoming just off of interstate 80 between cheyenne and laramie. Vedauwoo s hoodoos and rocky outcrops attract outdoor enthusiast bent on chimney climbs, crack climbing, rappelling, mountain biking, and hiking in this rockgarden wonderland. All boulder problems, sport routes, toprope routes, and climbs under 20 feet are left out. Grainger, otherwise known as david cranmer, created the outlaw marshall, cash laramie and his partner gideon miles, in a series of short stories that he cont at my advanced age, ill. It was founded in march 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in september 1887.
Discover wyomings rich history, taste the flavors of the west or find the perfect outdoor activity. In the laramie range rock formations in the 10squaremile area known as vedauwoo arapaho for land of the earthborn spirit and pronounced vee. Vedauwoo provides excellent backdrops for picnics, sightseeing, biking, mountain biking, camping, rock climbing. While the book is great, it only includes trad lines over 20 feet. Located in southern wyoming directly off i80 between cheyenne and laramie. Its name, according to some, is a romanized version of the arapaho word bitoowu meaning earthborn. Turtle rock trail at vedauwoo hiking away from the grind. There are many hard references to the etymology of the word vedauwoo including past newspaper articles, playbills and books, 2 of which describe it in considerable detail see for example chapter 3, the story of vedauwoo 1924, in history of dramatics at the university of wyoming, m.
Precise control of a very precarious position during an annual vertical dance performance at vedauwoo, wyoming. Two years later, wyomings territorial governor named this quintessential endoftheline wild west town the temporary capital. Housed within the centennial complex is the university of wyomings american heritage center, which is the universitys repository of manuscripts and rare books that are focused on wyoming area and rocky mountain west. Learn about animals, nature, outdoor recreation, geology and american indians in vedauwoo. Information, maps, permits, and guidebooks for planning adventures at western parks, forests, refuges and wildlife areas, historic sites, wilderness areas, lakes and reservoirs, wild rivers, and blm lands. List of books and articles about wyoming history online. Vedauwoo is a real oasis in the high plains, rich in climbing, wild life and western lore.
Vedauwoo, ames monument and happy jack area tour visit. The area is used for camping and picnicking and is a great favorite of rock climbers. Vedauwoos hoodoos and rocky outcrops attract outdoor enthusiast bent on chimney climbs, crack climbing, rappelling, mountain biking, and hiking in this rockgarden wonderland. Vedauwoo is derived from the arapaho or cheyenne word meaning earth born. This book sets the standard for user friendliness with enhanced digital imagery to show where the. In the late 30s they started using camp guernsey because of better weather at lower altitude. Activities at vedauwoo recreation area travel wyoming.