Casper Mountain
Casper Mountain Rd
Casper, WY
A cool, pine-covered mountain rising straight out of the plains above Wyoming's second-largest city.
Casper Mountain is the green wall that rises straight out of the plains south of Casper, and for the city it is a beloved escape. A quick climb up the mountain road lifts you from sagebrush flats into cool forests of pine and aspen, with campgrounds, picnic grounds, and trailheads spread across the ridge.
It is a county park in the best sense, a mountain the whole community shares. People come up to hike and ride in summer, to ski and sled in winter, and simply to cool off and look out over the valley. Woven through it are trails and traditions that have made the mountain part of local life for generations.
What Guests Love
- Trading the hot plains for cool pine forest in a short drive from town
- Miles of hiking and Nordic ski trails through the timber
- The Lee McCune Braille Trail, designed for visitors who are blind or low-vision
- Sweeping views back over Casper and the North Platte valley
Worth Knowing
- The mountain is thousands of feet higher than town, so it can be snowy and cold when the plains are mild
- Some mountain roads and facilities are seasonal, so check before a shoulder-season trip
- It is a working county park, popular on summer weekends, so trailheads can fill
- Afternoon thunderstorms are common in summer, so start early and watch the sky
Details
Casper, WY
Learn about Casper Mountain
Trails for every season
In summer the mountain is a web of hiking and mountain-bike trails winding through pine and aspen, past meadows and small streams. When snow comes, many of the same routes become groomed Nordic ski trails, and the mountain draws cross-country skiers and snowshoers from across central Wyoming.
One trail stands apart. The Lee McCune Braille Trail is a looping path designed for visitors who are blind or have low vision, strung with a guide line and braille and print signs that describe the forest along the way. It has welcomed people to experience the mountain by touch and sound for decades.
Skiing and snow play
On the back side of the mountain, the Hogadon Basin ski area offers downhill runs for beginners and intermediates, a small, friendly hill where many Casper kids first learn to ski. Nearby slopes and hills draw sledders and tubers whenever the snow is deep.
Because the mountain stands so much higher than town, it holds winter well, and the snow can linger up top when the plains have long since thawed. That elevation is the whole gift: cool in summer, snowy in winter, a different world a short drive from downtown.
Legends of the mountain
The mountain has its own folklore, much of it gathered at Crimson Dawn, a park on the mountain built around the homestead of artist Neal Forsling. Her painted tales of the mountain's spirits are shared each Midsummer's Eve, when families walk the wooded trails by lantern light in a tradition that has lasted for generations.
Long before the homesteaders, this was the country of the Eastern Shoshone, Arapaho, and other nations, who followed the game between the mountains and the North Platte. The river below Casper carried the great overland trails west, and the mountain has watched over that crossroads country ever since.
Visiting
From Casper, the mountain road climbs south out of town and reaches the parks and trailheads within a short drive, gaining elevation and shade with every switchback. Campgrounds, picnic areas, and overlooks line the route, and the Braille Trail and Crimson Dawn are signed along the way.
Summer brings wildflowers, cool forest, and long evenings, while winter opens the ski hill and the Nordic trails. Whatever the season, bring a layer, since the top of the mountain runs cooler than the city below, and give yourself time to stop at the overlooks for the view.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Casper
Downtown Casper and the Platte River
About 8 miles north
Wyoming's second-largest city on the North Platte, with a revived downtown, riverfront trails, and the Nicolaysen Art Museum.
National Historic Trails Interpretive Center
About 10 miles north
A hilltop museum overlooking Casper that tells the story of the Oregon, California, Mormon, and Pony Express trails that all crossed the North Platte here.
Independence Rock
About 55 miles southwest
A great granite dome on the emigrant trail where thousands of pioneers carved their names, a register of the westward migration in stone.