People often miss the beauty of Wyoming’s southern region, but this summer there will be a chance to take it in like never before.
It’s not just any joyride. It’s the inaugural run of an off-road trail that Wyoming State Parks Trails Program Manager Kevin Kamminga told Cowboy State Daily has long existed, all the way from Evanston, in the southwest corner of the state, to Cheyenne in its southeast — albeit in an unofficial, unconnected form.
The trail, which is using two-tracks on public lands, just needed a group to go and ride the whole thing, connecting all the dots and mapping out an officially sanctioned trail, one that will eventually have signs and maps and all.
That official ride is set to take place this summer leading up to the Fourth of July holiday, and the public is invited to participate.
That makes this a chance not only to celebrate America’s 250th in true frontier style, but also a chance to help chart a little Cowboy State history.
Up to 50 street-legal, off-road, motorized vehicles will be allowed to help blaze this first-of-its-kind trail in Wyoming, for a ticket price of $100 each.
The money will pay for logistics so that riders may drop their off-road vehicles in Evanston, take their trucks and trailers to Cheyenne, and then hop a shuttle ride back to Evanston for the start of their journey.
Ideal Way to See Southern Wyoming
The dusty caravan of off-road machines will start its history-making tour of southern Wyoming on July 1, landing in Cheyenne just in time for the Fourth of July holiday.
The entire journey will be mostly off-road, using existing two-tracks and trails.
There will be a few places where paved roads are used to connect to the rest of the trail. But such areas will be kept as short as possible. Wyoming legislation has also made it possible to enroll those small segments of highway into the official trail.
This kind of off-road trail is an ideal way to see southern Wyoming, Kamminga believes.
“There are just so many people who travel through southern Wyoming via I-80, and they miss the beauty just north and south by a little bit,” he said. “So this is an opportunity, our hope is, that this event is successful and we are able to publish this route for people to use long into the future.”
The route will have three stops along the way — one in Rock Springs, one in Saratoga and one in Laramie — before the final stop in Cheyenne.
“We’ll go through historic Fort Bridger, past the Piedmont kilns in southwest Wyoming,” Kamminga said. “The second day, we’ll be able to see the beauty of some of the southern edge of the Red Desert and then into Saratoga for the hot springs in the evening.”
After that it’s up over the Snowy Range, through Centennial, and then down into Laramie.
While the journey is all off-road, the joyriders won’t necessarily need to bring tents and sleeping bags to rough it. Hotels have been very accommodating along the way, Kamminga said, and hotel blocks have been procured along the way.
That way, riders will be able to take hot showers and get restful sleep before the next day’s ride.
“We did leave camping as an option,” Kamminga said. “So there’s probably a few that will join us on the ride who will camp. But we do have room blocks in each location for the ones who want to reserve a room.”
Registration for the 250th celebration ride is open through March 31 on the Sweetwater Snowpokes Snowmobile and ATV Club website. Participants must use a street-legal off-road machine, including the requisite decal, which helps fund the signage that’s placed along such routes.
There’s a cap of 50 on the number of machines, and so far 20 people have already signed up.
First of Many to Come
The Evanston to Cheyenne off-road motorized trail is the first of its kind in Wyoming.
In the past couple of decades, the focus was more on small loop trails near campgrounds for motorized off-road trails, though their number was limited even at that.
Now, however, what people really want are long-distance, off-road trails — the OHV cousin to popular backcountry discovery routes for motorcycle riders.
“Utah has several different options for long-distance trails like this,” Kamminga said. “And I think it’s only a matter of time (in Wyoming). This may be the first in Wyoming, but it’s definitely not going to be the last.”
In fact, Kamminga already knows of a couple of areas in the state where similar long-distance, motorized, off-road trails could be set up relatively easily.
“Wyoming is extremely rich in what we call two-track roads,” he said.
That means the majority of what the state needs to set up more such trails already exists. It’s just a matter of connecting all the dots.
“There’s one they call the Caribou Trail that follows the Gray’s River up over Commissary Ridge and kind of loops into Idaho,” he said. “So there’s one we share a portion of with Idaho.”
Fueling Up Tourism in Smaller Towns
The idea for the off-road, motorized trail ride started with Sen. Stacy Jones, R-Rock Springs, who wanted a unique way to mark the nation’s semiquincentennial as well as indulge a growing passion in Wyoming for long-distance motorized trail riding.
The idea was an instant hit, Wyoming State Parks and Cultural Resources Deputy Director Chris Floyd told Cowboy State Daily.
“There are a lot of motorized trail recreation enthusiasts across Wyoming,” he said. “We thought it would be nice if we could do a long-distance ride across the southern part of the state, try to stay on dirt roads and trails as much as possible, and make that connection the week leading up to the Fourth of July.”
A working group was quickly formed to pull things together, bringing Wyoming State Parks’ Trails Program, Office of Outdoor Recreation and other partners like WYDOT and the Office of Tourism together to figure out all the logistics as quickly as possible.
“It’s one of those things where someone puts an idea out there, and the enthusiasts take it from there,” Floyd said. “We’re just trying to come up with a team effort that’s going to result in something really cool and memorable for Wyoming.”
But it’s also more than just a joyride and more than a celebration for America’s 250th.
There’s also a bigger vision of connection for the many small communities across Wyoming. That way, it’s not just highways but also legal, well-marked motorized routes that will let visitors get into smaller towns for fuel, food and lodging without returning to a point of origin first.
“The long and short of it is, we’re trying to connect communities with trails so we can tie communities into trail systems throughout Wyoming,” he said. “That way people have the ability to drop into these communities and get fuel, supplies or catch a burger, all without getting into their regular vehicle.”
If the vision pans out, a network of trails like this could help funnel money into smaller towns across southern Wyoming, helping the state’s tourism engines work better across the Cowboy State.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
