Platte County: History and Nature in Wyoming

Platte County combines waterside landscapes with visible traces of westward-bound history. Glendo State Park encompasses 22,000 acres in and around Glendo Reservoir. Historic sites, museums, and seasonal experiences add further highlights. As you plan your trip, consider whether you’d like to focus primarily on trails and water, the history of the trails, or the museums’ collections.

Waterscapes and Trails

At Guernsey State Park, about 14 miles of restored CCC trails, arranged into several loops, offer a practical way to explore the park. The Guernsey Museum was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. In Guernsey State Park, you can explore the Castle and Brimmer Point as well as the museum. The park has 19 campgrounds and 250 sites; availability may change.

At Wheatland Reservoir No. 1, you can fish for walleye, yellow perch, channel catfish, black bass, and black bass or crappie species. Conditions and regulations may change, so it’s a good idea to check before your fishing trip. In the Guernsey area, a river trip on the North Platte River is offered in spring and summer. Operators and availability may change; check which options are currently available before your trip.

Traces of the Westward Routes

Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site preserves wagon ruts carved more than five feet deep into soft sandstone. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975. Here, the visible contours of historic wagon routes take center stage. Register Cliff shows a different kind of trace: names, dates, places of origin, and messages left by emigrants are carved into the soft sandstone.

During the height of westward migration in the 1840s and 1850s, Register Cliff was a major landmark on the California, Oregon, and Mormon Trails. Considered together, the two sites are distinctly different: the deep wagon ruts are the defining evidence at Oregon Trail Ruts, while Register Cliff preserves personal inscriptions. Together, they offer two different perspectives on the history of the trails.

Museums and Local History

The Guernsey Museum is a historic museum along the trail and was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It is open seasonally from May 1 through September 30; check opening hours before your trip. At the Glendo Museum, natural and local history come together: the collection includes fossils, a pictorial history of Glendo Dam, and hand-forged relics from the Twin Springs blacksmith shop, which burned down during the Battle of Horseshoe Creek.

The Laramie Peak Museum features an authentic reconstruction of Wheatland’s first schoolhouse, along with numerous artifacts from the earliest settlers of Platte County. The work of the Chugwater Museum is also part of the region’s historical preservation efforts: a preservation project has digitally stored more than 3,000 images of photographs, newspapers, documents, letters, and private and government records. The museums offer a range of focuses—from fossils and settlement history to preserving written and photographic records.

Seasonal Experiences and Travel Planning

The Chugwater Chili Cook-Off and Roundup takes place every June. The program includes public chili and salsa tastings; the exact date varies from year to year. Check that year’s program before your trip. In Chugwater, the Soda Fountain is described as Wyoming’s oldest continuously operating soda fountain.

Seasonal offerings take place at different times: the river trip in the Guernsey area is offered in spring and summer, the Guernsey Museum is open seasonally from May 1 through September 30, and the Chili Cook-Off and Roundup is scheduled for June. If these experiences are important to your trip, factor their respective time frames into your plans. Platte County is located on I-25 along the route to or from Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park.

Discover more destinations: Wheatland, Chugwater, Washakie, Johnson County, Weston County, Teton, Niobrara County, Campbell.

For the main travel overview: Wyoming.