Rail Trails in Douglas & Glen Rock, Wyoming
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Sussing out the Riverside Rail-Trail in Douglas, Wyoming
The sun rose bright in a clear blue sky. The morning was cool and there was sufficient air in our bike tires. Time at last to get a taste of the GART (Great American Rail Trail). Wyoming has only about 17 miles of converted rail-to-trail bike paths on the actual GART, but you have to start somewhere and here we were.
We were up and on the Riverside Trail by 0630. We’d scouted it out in advance, but quite frankly, there is only 3.1 miles of the completed rail-trail in Douglas, so there wasn’t too much to scout out. We biked across the North Platte River bridge, up a hill and shazam… we were on the trail, cruising along the river. All too soon, the paved path ended… quite abruptly. We turned around and headed back from whence we’d come. The hill we’d careened down was a bit more arduous on the return. I really need to get the hang of this because pushing my bike back up that hill was definitely not cool… in any sense of the word. David waited patiently for me at the top and said not a word. He knows me well.
To complete the trail, we needed to cross Yellowstone Avenue, maneuver through a neighborhood, then rejoin the riverside trail which picks up on the other side of the bridge. The path was paved and wonderfully pleasant to ride with sweeping curves under tall, shady trees. Once again, the path ended abruptly at I-25 this time and we turned around and cycled back. Our total mileage was a whopping 7 miles, since we had to bike the trail both going and coming back, but for newbies we felt pretty good about ourselves… a whole 3.1 miles completed on the Wyoming GART. We were ready for more. I might add that we’ve invested in padded biking pants which has helped our nether regions enormously though I feel like I’m walking with more in my pants than should be there.
We packed up, stowed the bikes and drove to Glen Rock to ride on Al’s Way, another short section of the rail-trail. The route begins on a side street in the industrial area of Glen Rock, TrailLink describes Al’s Way as ‘Once a supply stop on the Oregon Trail... [it follows] the same corridor as the former Chicago North Western Railroad. Glenrock’s trail, opened in 1994, was named after Al Finch, a local high school coach.’
We traveled over a rickety trestle bridge (clop, clop, clop) and past a display of petrified wood donated by a local family. I find we don’t stop to ‘smell the roses’ or take photos as we’re riding. There’s no reason not to, it just seems once you’re tooling along, you tend to keep on going. The whole path is only 1.5 miles long, but since we cycled both ways, it was worth the 3 mile effort. That brings the day’s total to 10 miles, our longest day’s mileage so far. We can only go up.
David had sussed out a good campground in Casper, Wyoming for our night’s stay. The Casper Mountain Park at 7,700’ is accessed via steep grades and hairpin turns on a guardrail-less paved road popular in winter for its ski and snowmobiling activities. We definitely prefer it without snow.
Beartrap Meadow Campground at Casper Mountain Park
There were several campgrounds available. We passed by Skunk Hollow figuring they named it that for a reason and instead opted for a campsite in the Beartrap Meadow Campground. We figured here all the bears would be trapped in the meadow and we’d be safe… plus there’d be no skunks. It was a lovely site midst tall evergreens and young aspens, overlooking a meadow chock-a-block full of wildflowers… yellow mule’s ear, white textile onion and bright pink sticky geranium.
Camp chores needed to be attended to, not least of which was a front tire flat on David’s bike. We’d purchased another couple of self-sealing tubes and he replaced front tires on both our bikes. A previous camper had been generous enough to leave us some firewood which needed to be split. David tackled the tire repairs and the wood while I scraped a myriad of dead bug bodies off Blue’s windshield and front grille… no minor feat, believe me.
The day seemed to wane quickly. We cooked dinner over the campfire and before long, the night cold crept in and we retired to Blue, regaling ourselves with our first GART bike ride and anticipating the Casper Rail Trail in the morning.
Join us next time for more cycling. You can just enjoy sitting and reading without the need for special padded pants. Trust me, you’ll be more comfortable.