I have mixed feelings about the Nelson Museum of the West. It’s got several excellent exhibits and historical items and gives visitors a detailed look into every aspect of the West, but one specific thing about the museum really annoyed me.
Somewhere in Wyoming between Laramie and Cheyenne, a couple miles down a dusty gravel road off I-80 in the middle of nowhere, a mysterious pyramid suddenly juts out of the earth. This is the Ames Monument. But why is it THERE?
Laramie’s top attraction is the Wyoming Territorial Prison. It was built in 1872 and served as a federal prison for 18 years. From 1890 to 1903, it was Wyoming’s state penitentiary. Many notorious convicts passed through its doors, including Butch Cassidy.
The cowboy city of Laramie was founded in 1868 and named after French fur trader Jacques La Ramée, who disappeared in the area in 1821. It has a nice historic downtown, a Wild West prison, and a university. We stopped for a few hours on our way to Cheyenne.
After we left Rocky Mountain National Park, we made a quick stop in the university city of Fort Collins, Colorado, on our way to Laramie, Wyoming.
The Holzwarth Historic Site is one of the more interesting stops along Trail Ridge Road. The trail tells an interesting personal story of settlers in the Kawuneeche Valley before it became part of Rocky Mountain National Park in 1975.
Grand Lake is a small town that sits at the western end of Trail Ridge Road just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park. It makes a great base for exploring the national park.