Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument

The bust was made by Robert Russin, a longtime art professor at the University of Wyoming, and unveiled in 1959 to mark the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. Russin modeled it in some ten tons of clay and had the 4,500-pound bronze cast in Mexico over about eleven months using the lost-wax method.

It first stood along the old US Highway 30, and in 1969 it was moved roughly a mile to its present spot at the Summit Rest Area beside the new Interstate 80. The monument is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a notable work of public art, and something like a quarter of a million travelers pass it every year.

The monument honors the Lincoln Highway, which in 1913 became the first improved road to cross the country, running roughly 3,400 miles from New York to San Francisco. Sherman Summit, near where the head now stands, was the highest point on that entire route, a milestone that early motorists bragged about reaching.

The place had been a high crossing long before cars. The Union Pacific laid its transcontinental rails over Sherman Hill in the late 1860s, and the ruts and grades of earlier travel still thread the plains below. The monument marks a spot that has funneled people across the continent, by rail and then by road, for more than a century and a half.

This is big, spare, wind-scoured country. The Laramie Plains roll out in every direction under one of the largest skies in the Rockies, and the elevation means cool nights even in summer and serious cold and blowing snow in winter. Pronghorn drift across the sage, and hawks and eagles ride the wind that rarely quits.

The land here is the traditional territory of Plains nations including the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Eastern Shoshone, who followed the bison across these grasslands long before the railroad and the highway. Just north of the summit, the rounded granite outcrops of Vedauwoo break the plains into a playground of climbing rock.

The monument is easy to reach: take the Summit exit off I-80 east of Laramie and follow the signs to the rest area, where there is parking, restrooms, and a short walk up to the bronze. It is open and free year round, though the summit is exposed and the weather can turn quickly.

Give yourself a few minutes to walk around the base and read the plaques, then take in the view. A visitor center at the rest area interprets the Lincoln Highway and the crossing, and the whole stop makes a memorable break on a long day of driving.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

The Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument is a striking colossal bronze head of Abraham Lincoln that rises from the sagebrush along Interstate 80 in southern Wyoming, at the Summit Rest Area atop Sherman Hill between Cheyenne and Laramie. Perched at more than eight thousand feet, the highest point on the old Lincoln Highway, the first road to cross the entire United States, the giant head gazes east down the route. The head alone stands about thirteen feet tall on a tall granite pillar, and it is far more moving in person than in photographs. A free, always-open pull-off, the Lincoln monument offers a memorable stop with wide views in southern Wyoming.

The monument stands at the summit of Sherman Hill because this is the highest point on the historic Lincoln Highway, the first road built to run all the way across the United States, named in honor of Abraham Lincoln. Placing a great bronze head of Lincoln at the highway's high point celebrates both the president and the pioneering transcontinental road. The site later became a rest area along Interstate 80, which follows much of the old route. The combination of Lincoln's legacy and the highway's history makes this lofty spot a fitting and memorable landmark in southern Wyoming.

You can pull off the interstate at the Summit Rest Area to view and photograph the colossal bronze Lincoln head up close, read the interpretive information about the Lincoln Highway and the monument, take in the sweeping high-plains views from one of the highest points on the transcontinental route, and stretch your legs on a road trip. It is a quick but rewarding free stop, always open. The dramatic sculpture and the wide horizons are the highlights. With its striking Lincoln head, highway history, and grand views, the monument offers a memorable roadside stop in southern Wyoming.

The monument sits at over eight thousand feet, where the weather is often windy, cold, and changeable even in summer, and winter can bring snow, ice, and closures on this high stretch of Interstate 80, so bring layers, watch the forecast, and drive carefully in bad weather. As a rest-area pull-off it is free and always open, but facilities can vary. The high elevation and exposure make it chilly, so a jacket is wise year-round. Being prepared for the wind and high-altitude weather ensures a comfortable stop at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument in southern Wyoming.

The Abraham Lincoln Memorial Monument is on Interstate 80 atop Sherman Hill between Cheyenne and Laramie in southern Wyoming, near the Vedauwoo rock formations, Curt Gowdy State Park, and within reach of Cheyenne with its State Capitol and museums and the college town of Laramie. That makes the monument a memorable roadside stop to combine with Vedauwoo, Cheyenne, Laramie, and the other attractions of southeastern Wyoming on a drive across the state.