Things to do in Douglas (Casper, Laramie: rental car, rental, theater)

[lititzman2003]

My wife, mother in law and I will be visiting the wife's family in Douglas next month and I was wondering what I should visit while I'm there. I'm not much for chatting and I like to explore but I don't want to take up alot of my host's time. I'd REALLY like to visit Mt. Rushmore but I've already been told that's out of the question. Thanks for the help.

[sunsprit]

What are you interested in doing?

Douglas is kinda' out in the middle of nowhere ... there's a couple of historical spots nearby, and a natural bridge park, and you're between the Grasslands and the Medicine Bow parks. If you're into being outdoors, enjoying natural beauty and solitude ... hiking, fishing, sightseeing, riding. ATV'ing ... there's lots of opportunities.

If you're looking for places to be entertained, there's not much there. You won't find an abundance of local restaurants, shopping, theaters, etc. Casper is the main regional attraction for those items, and that's not too far away ... but it's still only a town of 50,000, so it's not exactly an entertainment capitol compared to the population densities/business from where you call home.

[lititzman2003]

Originally Posted by sunsprit

What are you interested in doing?

Douglas is kinda' out in the middle of nowhere ... there's a couple of historical spots nearby, and a natural bridge park, and you're between the Grasslands and the Medicine Bow parks. If you're into being outdoors, enjoying natural beauty and solitude ... hiking, fishing, sightseeing, riding. ATV'ing ... there's lots of opportunities.

If you're looking for places to be entertained, there's not much there. You won't find an abundance of local restaurants, shopping, theaters, etc. Casper is the main regional attraction for those items, and that's not too far away ... but it's still only a town of 50,000, so it's not exactly an entertainment capitol compared to the population densities/business from where you call home.

I'm an outdoors guy, sunspirit and you answer my question perfectly. I'm more interested in the sights then the restaurants, shopping, etc. Thanks!

[StealthRabbit]

You might dig up some history info on the region. There are some old towns, and Ft Laramie is a possibility. Being a Rebel at heart... I would jump in the car some evening after everyone was sleeping, and be at Mt Rushmore for sunrise, and back before lunch. (Tho I also like the 'Wind Caves' and Custer State park)

There is a 'ghost town' thread on this forum, maybe there are some of those near Douglas. Lots of folks fish Glendo.

If you are not into being entertained, you could venture up the road to Bill, WY. Last time I was there (1979) it was pretty 'dried up'. Maybe it has a new bar or something. I always went through Bill at 4-5AM so not much action.

[jdavid93225]

Between this thread and the one about train service, I'm sure you'll see that to best enjoy your time in and around Douglas, you'll most likely benefit from having a rental car. The drive up from Denver isn't terrible, and you'll get there just about as fast as (or even faster than) taking a bus or a connecting flight with a ride to Douglas. If you have a rental car, your desire to see Mt. Rushmore could also be realized. It's about a four hour drive from Douglas, give or take a bit, depending on the route you take. To go there and back in a day is possible, so don't rule it out. You might also want to do an overnight trip there, since there is a lot to see and do in that area.

As for StealthRabbit's suggestion about seeing "Bill, WY," I will tell you there's not much there. Here is a link to an article about the "town," if you wish to call it that:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/us...hp&oref=slogin
You might find it interesting to see anyway, so you can make it a part of the trip if you venture out to Mt. Rushmore, though it adds a little more time to the drive.

Personally, I would suggest making the trip to Mt. Rushmore, but making a loop of it, taking in a southern route one direction, and a northern route the other way. On the northern route, you might want to consider a stop at Devil's Tower, the first National Monument in the U.S. Once in South Dakota, there are a lot of neat places to visit, depending on your time frame. If you're spending the night there, you'll want to see the light show at Mt. Rushmore. You might also want to see Wall Drug in Wall, SD, or Wind Cave or Badlands National Parks, or Custer State Park, or any of a bunch of other things. A search of the South Dakota forums should give you a lot to see in that area.

Back to places of interest in Wyoming, there is the Ayers Natural Bridge that was mentioned earlier, just outside of Douglas. You can also "float" the North Platte River if you like. Here's a sign with some info about that:
Panoramio - Photo of North Platte River Float Information
Here is another link about tourism opportunities in the Douglas area:

http://www.cityofdouglaswy.com/index.asp?Type=B_LOC&SEC={63CFBE16-2DAF-4FF9-AFB0-6598ED6C4323} (edit: I'm sorry I couldn't get this link to become active. You'll probably need to cut and paste it into your browser's address bar to make it work.)

There is also the Medicine Bow - Routt National Forest to the south, and the Thunder Basin National Grassland to the northeast of Douglas for scenery and solitude if you're interested. Here's some more info about those areas:
USDA Forest Service, Medicine Bow & Routt National Forests, Thunder Basin National Grassland - About Us
The link above shows things in the Douglas Ranger District. You may want to stop by the local ranger station for further information once you arrive there.

If you're reasonably self-sufficient when it comes to entertaining yourself, then you shouldn't really have any problem finding things to do. Again, because Wyoming is so sparsely populated, as well as very spread out, your best bet for getting around would be by car. Again, as others have suggested in the other thread, you will most likely want to have a rental car, if at all possible.

[WyoNewk]

I suppose you already have airline tickets? If not, maybe you could fly into Rapid City for the same price. Douglas is probably a little closer to Rapid City than to Denver. You could then see some of the Hills on your way to and from Douglas.

Just a thought.....