A popular place to stay and eat near the Wyoming-Colorado in the Snowy Range has abruptly shut its doors, right before hunting season.
The WyColo lodge, popular with summer visitors and winter snowmobilers, announced its closing Saturday.
“WyColo is officially closed till further notice!!” reads an announcement the lodge posted. “All reservations will be filled and served.”
A representative who answered the WyColo phone number told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday that a release is planned in the future to further explain the situation.
“Whatever I posted to Facebook is pretty much what I put out and that’s all I put out,” said the man, who declined to identify himself. “The rest of it, when I put it out, then everybody will know the whole story. That’s where we’re at with things.”
The man added he appreciates those who were trying to help spread the word about the closure.
“But right now, I just want everybody to respect the family and people who have been trying to keep this place going for everybody,” he added, suggesting that people are “getting killed” by the volume of work involved.
“We’ll bring it to you when we are ready,” he said.
The man hung up when Cowboy State Daily asked for clarification on the statements involving fulfilling reservations.
An Important Waystation
WyColo Lodge is located at 4039 State Highway 230 in the heart of the Medicine Bow Forest about 40 minutes from Laramie.
It has long been considered an important way station for travelers, said Cowboy State Daily Meteorologist Don Day, who is very familiar with the area.
“Highway 230 goes west out of Laramie, and it will take you up and over the Snowy Range on the south end,” he said. “So, it’s the south way to go over the mountains, whether you’re going into Walden or Steamboat, Colorado.
“The other way to go is Highway 130, which is the Snowy Range Pass, which also comes out of Laramie, but it is closed in the winter.”
That makes Highway 230, and the businesses along it like WyColo Lodge, important resources for travelers, Day said, particularly in winter.
“There just aren’t a lot of resources for people to stop, whether it’s to eat or get things between here and there,” Day said. “So, I do know it’s important.”
WyColo Lodge has had a number of owners over the past decade or so, Day added.
The lodge’s archived website lists three rooms available for travelers. Bear Hollow, which is a queen bed and set of bunk beds; Bugling Elk, which is a queen bed and two singles; and Moose Haven, which is a queen bed with a bunk bed that has a full bottom and single top.
All rooms have a private bathroom and satellite television, as well as WiFi. The website’s last update appears to be summer 2021.
History Of Facility Is Long, But Unclear
The exact history of WyColo Lodge is uncertain. Photos at the archived website show an old log cabin, labeled as Mile Post 63.9, with two people and one child in front of it, as well as what appear to be a few goats.
No date is given with the photo, which is credited to the Denver Public Library Western History Department.
Text accompanying the photo says that the original WyColo Lodge was located at Mile 63.9 on the Laramie, Han’s Peak and Pacific railroad, and that the people in the photo are Phil and Margretta Arvinitis and their daughter, Delores.
A different picture shows the WyColo Lodge in the late 1980s, with multiple vehicles around it in a snowy setting. The Dorsey and Chevalier families are listed as among families owning some of the vehicles.
The website describes WyColo Lodge as an important gathering place for the community and a destination for those seeking adventure.
Medicine Bow offers hundreds of miles of trails for hiking, ATV/four-wheeling, mountain biking, fishing, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
The news that WyColo Lodge has closed was met by dismay from a variety of its current and former customers.
“I’m sad to hear this,” Tracy Corbett West wrote under the announcement on the lodge’s Facebook page. “Hope you are able to reopen again. We visit often in the summer.”
“And just before hunting season!?!” Deann Meyers wrote. “Hope all works out for the better.”
“Oh no, was planning on staying there this winter snowmobiling,” Greg Aspros wrote.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
