Straddling the Wyoming-Colorado border, the Medicine Bow-Routt is an archipelago of Rocky Mountain forests stretching from Medicine Bow in Wyoming and Routt in Colorado. In the forest's rugged wilderness areas, you'll find magnificent cathedral-like cirques with natural acoustics that echo the cries of raptors in flight. Read More »

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests Highlights

  • Mt. Zirkel, at 12,180 feet, is the highest point in this wilderness that consists of the jagged Sawtooth Range along the Continental Divide. Scrub oak and sagebrush give way to aspen, lodgepole, spruce, fir, and alpine tundra at higher elevations. Keep your eyes open for pine marten, wolverine, and black bear. Check the skies for bald eagles and peregrine falcons.
  • Surrounded by the Flat Tops Wilderness, the Cold Spring Campgrounds offers access to 110 alpine lakes and ponds. Just above the campground, the Stillwater Reservoir cascades down into the Bear River through dense spruce-fir forests. Nearby trailheads will get you on the North Derby Trail, Bear River Trail, East Fork Trail, and the Devils Causeway. The campground is a 16-mile drive southwest of Yampa along CR 7.
  • Ride your mountain bike on a number of trails near the Rabbit Ears, two volcanic plugs that have eroded into twin 100-foot pinnacles. High-mountain meadows are surrounded by magnificent stands of aspen and spruce.
  • The Flat Tops Trail, an 82-mile scenic byway from Meeker to Yampa, traverses some drop-dead gorgeous terrain. Pass ancient lava flows, deep canyons, alpine peaks, Rattlesnake Butte, Devils Grave Mesa, and the site of the Meeker Massacre.
  • East of Laramie on Interstate 80, the Vedauwoo area offers some of the best crack/off-width climbing and one of the highest densities in the country. Fall Wall is probably the area's most popular crag, with a variety of sport and traditional routes up its crystal-heavy face.

By Travel Expert: Brian Kevin

  • Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests Travel Q&A

  • What's your favorite hike? Where's the best campsite? Join the conversation! Ask Your Question

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