Ayres Park and Natural Bridge

On my first serous excursion to Wyoming in 2007, the first stop was Ayres Park and Natural Bridge. This oasis on the plains is located in a red sandstone canyon and features a 50 ft high and 100 ft long natural bridge with a 90 ft wide x 20 ft high opening cut by LaPrele Creek. A short, steep hiking trail leads to the top of the natural bridge. The park is beautiful, green, and shady and provides an excellent place to have a picnic lunch. The park is located 5 miles south of I-25 about 17 mi west of Douglas, and is popular with Douglas residents.

Introduction

In the process of writing Wyoming Road Trip by the Mile Marker, I realized that my perception of Wyoming is much different than that of the general populace. Many people that I have talked to in the past couple of years seem to think that Wyoming is nothing more than prairie, antelope (technically called pronghorns), and wind. Some didn’t even know that Yellowstone National Park was in Wyoming.

So, it is clear that I have several purposes for creating this blog: to create interest by demonstrating the beauty and diversity of the state; to help make my book known to the public; and to generate conversation to improve the book.

Going forward, I will be describing various attractions and experiences from my many weeks of traveling Wyoming while performing research for the book. Before that, though, it is important to realize what makes Wyoming special. For me, the state is wide open, with a total population of just over half a million. By comparison, Denver County, in my home state of Colorado, has a population larger than that, and Colorado has a population of over 5 million. Both states have the Rocky Mountains running through them, but the difference is that in Colorado it is difficult to find mountain locations that are not full of people. Wyoming is different in that there are few expensive resort towns in their mountains, and there is not a huge population base looking for mountain getaways each weekend.

Add onto this Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the historic emigrant trails from the 19th century, and you have a state that merits weeks of exploration if you know where to look.