Attractions In and Around Laramie, Wyoming
Laramie Plains Museum/ Ivinson Mansion
603 E Ivinson Ave., Laramie, WY 82070 (307) 742-4448
The historic Ivinson Mansion, home to the Laramie Plains Museum, was the original home of the influential Ivinson Family, who helped the town of Laramie grow and prosper due to their community efforts and financial contributions. Today, after years of disuse, the home is a beautiful example of the Laramie style of architecture, and houses a comprehensive collection of period antiques. The home is located in the downtown area, just west of the University of Wyoming campus.
Hours of Operation: Times vary according to season.
Admission: Adults $7; Seniors $5.50; Students $4; Children under 6 are Free
Website: http://www.laramiemuseum.org/
0.07 miles from center of Laramie
Source: http://laramiewy.areaguides.net/
Albany County Tourism Board
210 E Custer St., Laramie, WY 82070 (307) 745-4195
Website: http://www.visitlaramie.org/
0.28 miles from center of Laramie
UW Geological Museum
(307) 766-4218
The Geological Museum at University of Wyoming features a collection of more than 50,000 fossils, rocks, and mineral specimens. The museum is located in S.H. Knight Geology Building in the northwest corner of the University of Wyoming campus. Also, the museum is home to a wide selection of dinosaur fossils, including a flying pteranodon, a tyrannosaurus rex, and a triceratops.
Open Mon. - Fri. 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Sat. - Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Admission: Free
Website: http://www.uwyo.edu/geomuseum/
0.46 miles from center of Laramie
Source: http://laramiewy.areaguides.net/
UW Anthropology Museum
(307) 766-5136
The Anthropology Museum is dedicated to showcasing exhibits and artifacts that explore the societal evolution of the people and tribes that still move through this region today. The museum is located on the University of Wyoming campus, just south of Green Hill Cemetery. The Wyoming Room at the Anthropology Museum features exhibits on such topics as Plains tribes jewelry, the ceramics of the state, and the reasons behind dramatic population changes over the last twenty years.
Website: http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/anthropology/museum/
0.64 miles from center of Laramie
Source: http://laramiewy.areaguides.net/
Wyoming Children's Museum and Nature Center
968 North 9th St., Laramie, WY 82070 (307) 745-6332
The Wyoming Children's Museum and Nature Center offers kids a chance to get excited about learning through a wonderful selection of hands-on and interactive exhibits. The museum is located inside of the lovely Labonte Park near the heart of downtown. The Nature Center features a variety of living and stuffed animals for children to touch and learn about, including a great horned owl named Hissy.
Open Tues. - Sat. 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Admission: Adults $2; Children (4-12) $3; Children 4 and under $1
Website: http://www.wcmnc.org/
0.7 miles from center of Laramie
Source: http://laramiewy.areaguides.net/
The Ames Monument
Oliver and Oakes Ames were 19th century industrialists (Oakes was known as the "King of Frauds") who, when they weren't producing shovels, were bribing Congress to finance the Union Pacific Railroad. The Railroad decided to show its appreciation by building a pyramid in their honor in 1882, out of native granite quarried from the site. Building a pyramid also kept Union Pacific Railroad workers busy, and it gave Union Pacific passengers something to look at in Wyoming.
The pyramid was designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, a big name in the 19th century. Giant portraits of the Ames Brothers, chiseled into opposite sides near the apex of the pyramid, were sculpted by August St. Gaudens, another favored fatcat who later designed the US $20 gold piece.
Time -- even railroad time -- humbles those who seek immortality. The Ames Brothers Pyramid was bypassed by the interstate, and the Union Pacific took away the tracks that ran nearby.
Directions: Exit 329 off I-80. Head south and east on
Monument Rd until you come to a sign with an Ames Monument
arrow. Bear left onto the gravel/dirt road, about one mile
to the pyramid.
Admission: Free.
Hours: Daylight hours. Climbing is strictly prohibited. (Call
to verify)
Phone: 307-777-6323
source: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/WYLARames.html
Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site
975 Snowy Range Road, Laramie, WY 82002 (307) 777-6303
The Wyoming Territorial Prison was originally built in 1872 and held some of the most infamous criminals of the time, including swaggering train robber Butch Cassidy. The park is located west of the downtown area. Visitors to the site can also visit the Broom Factory where much of the prison labor was carried out, the warden's restored house, and a true to life sprawling homestead cabin.
Open May - November 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Admission: Adults $5; Teens $2.50; Children 11 and under Free
Website: http://www.wyoprisonpark.org/
0.9 miles from center of Laramie
Source: http://laramiewy.areaguides.net/
University Art Museum
2111 Willet Dr., Laramie, WY 82072 (307) 766-6622
The University Art Museum features a permanent collection of more than 7,000 pieces of regional, national, and international art, including impressive examples of Native American miniature paintings and 19th-century Japanese prints. The museum is located in the Centennial Complex, on the University of Wyoming campus. The building, designed by internationally renowned architect Antoine Predock, is built to represent a tiny village, poised on the edge of beautiful, steel man made mesa.
Hours vary seasonally. Free admission.
Website: http://www.uwyo.edu/ArtMuseum/
1.27 miles from center of Laramie
Source: http://laramiewy.areaguides.net/
The Lincoln Monument
Located on the I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne, it was commissioned by the state of Wyoming in 1959 to honor the 150th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, and placed here in 1969 when I-80 was completed. It marks the highest point of the old Lincoln Highway (now I-80) from coast to coast -- about 8,640 ft. above sea level.
The bronze head, sculpted by Robert Russin, is 12 1/2 feet high, though its 30-ft. tall granite pedestal assures that it can be seen from quite a distance.
Directions: 11 miles from Laramie, 20 miles west of Cheyenne on I-80, exit 323.
Source: http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/WYLARlincoln.html
American Heritage Center
2111 Willet Dr., Laramie, WY 82072 (307) 766-2570
The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming's book archive, as well as the rare book storage center and repository for manuscripts. The center is located on the University of Wyoming campus, near the Green Hill Cemetery. The collection of rare books held at the center is considered by many to be the finest in the nation, holding more than 40,000 volumes that track the history of literature, from the illuminated manuscripts of medieval times to 21st-century writings.
Open Mon. 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.; Tues. - Fri. 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.; Sat. 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Free admission
Website: http://ahc.uwyo.edu/
1.27 miles from center of Laramie
Source: http://laramiewy.areaguides.net/
Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest
(307) 745-2300
The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest is nearly three million acres in size, and encompasses the town of Medicine Bow as well the Laramie, Gore, and Flat Tops Mountain Range. The area sprawls from north-central Colorado into central Wyoming. A popular area of the national forest is the Thunder Basin Grassland, a beautifully arid grassland that affords plenty of opportunities for sight-seeing, hiking, camping, hunting and fishing.
Website: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/mbr/
2.05 miles from center of Laramie
Source: http://laramiewy.areaguides.net/
Vedauwoo
(307) 745-8971
At an altitude of 8,000 feet, Vedauwoo is a rather secluded rocky oasis in southeastern Wyoming, filled with dense pine forests and aspPlmLine1.jpg (109979 bytes)en groves. It is surrounded by a seemingly endless expanse of high plains and lies under a dome of intense cerulean blue sky. Views from the tops of the crags are stunning, and one can see from Wyoming's ragged mountains clear down the Continental Divide to Long's Peak, some 75 miles south in Colorado. A multitude of free-ranging animal species are commonly found here, including small mammals, antelope, deer, cattle, and an occasional black bear or cougar. Today, climbers and others come here from nearly everywhere to indulge themselves within a setting of alien rock formations and scenic valleys found only at Vedauwoo. This is 'high country' and wind is ever present, whether just a light breeze prowling through the aspen groves or near hurricane force gales. Storms of near bestial proportions are spawned in the SNOWY RANGE about 50 miles to the west and many times descend upon the valleys of Vedauwoo. Should you decide to visit, you might want to check the weather prior to coming, especially in the spring or late fall.
14.42 miles from center of Laramie
Source: http://www.vedauwoo.org/intro.htm
