TripHip - Travel Tips and Advice for Traveling on a Budget

Fort Caspar, in Casper, Wyoming, is a reconstructed 1865 military post. The original was located at this same spot, a major river crossing on the Oregon/California/Mormon Pioneer and Pony Express trail corridor.

Why is it Fort Caspar, you're wondering? Well, the fort, and the town, were named after Caspar Collins. When he died, the Army attempted to pay him tribute...but mispelled his name. When the musuem was established in 1936, Casper citizens wanted his name spelled right, so it was!

The museum consists of historical objects, photographs, and archival materials related to the history of Fort Caspar, and also to the entire region of central Wyoming.

The fort buildings are open from May through September. The museum is open ever day, but with varying hours depending on the season. Check out their website at http://fortcasparwyoming.com for opening and closing times.

It only costs $2 for adults, and $1 for kids. Can't beat that price!

I'm in to American history, so whatever place I visit, I always want to see all the museums and historical homes and things of that nature. But, I'm also interested in practically everything else. I'd like to visit every city's sports stadium - assuming they had one, except that I'm too cheap to pay for baseball tickets, and as for football tickets, forget about it!

But I do "collect" planetariums, and Casper has a nice one. It's street address is 904 N Poplar Street, and their phone is (307) 577-0310.

The Casper Planetarium, constructed in 1966, was the first planetarium in Wyoming. It had a state of the art Spitz star machine and seating for 71.

In 2006, shortly after the celebration of the Planetarium’s 40th anniversary, the planetarium was renovated. The building was unchanged but the Spitz star machine was replaced by a Konica-Minolta Mediaglobe; the world’s first all dome, full color, single projector planetarium system.

So, quite a number of "firsts" there to add to muy collection. And the starshow wasn't bad, either!

Casper Whitewater Park, or Platte River Parkway Whitwater Park as it is also known, is a one half mile stretch of the North Platte River with four man made rock structures that create turbulent water, perfect whitewater rapids.

This site is located parallel to First Street just West of Poplar Street and is designed for supervised beginner and intermediate boaters at normal water flows between 500 and 3000 cubic feet per second. Normal summertime water flow is just over 3000 cfs from June thru September.

There is no charge for the use of the facility.

Remember to always wear a properly fitted Personal Floatation Device when enjoying the river and never boat or float alone!

If you're a golf fan, then you'll want to visit every golf course you can while you''re on vacation.

There's a few golf courses in and around Casper.

Three Crowns Golf Club, located at 2435 King Blvd, is an 18-hole public golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. It's open from April 1 to October 31. The course has water on 14 holes, and 180 bunkers. Golfweek called it one of the "50 Best New Courses" in the world.

Casper Municipal Course is located at 2120 Allendale Blvd. It is open from April 1 to November 1. The course has 27 holes - three unique nines. There's a practice facility, a chipping green, and a putting green. There's also a restaurant and lounge.

The Salt Creek Country Club is located at Hwy 387 in Midwest. It's a 9-hole public course, open from May through mid-October. It was designed by the employees of a local oil field in the 1920s, and consists of mowed prairie grass and sand greens. It costs only $2 to play here.

Hogadon Ski Area, on Casper Mountain (just 10 minutes from the city) offers 24 downhill trails served by 3 ski lifts, and 600 vertical feet of terrain for snowboarders.

Of course, Hogadon has bunny slopes, intermediate and advanced slopes, including some black diamond trails. (Bunny slopes are ID-d by green circles, blue squares mean intermediate, black diamond is for advanced skiiers.)

The Casper Nordic Center, also located on Casper Mountain, offers cross-country skiing day and night. In addition to the lighted, groomed track, there are 50 kilometers of backcountru and snowshoe trails.

Hogadon also offers a ski school.

The resort building is located on the summit of the mountain, as opposed to the base, which is pretty cool.

In order to keep up with Hogadon - during the snow season, of course, check out the Hogadon Ski Report, here: http://www.skireport.com/wyoming/hogadon/

Casper Mountain is located just 10 miles south of that city. Climb a bit up the mountain to walk on the Lee McCune Braille Trail. It's located on the Strube Loop section of Casper Mountain Park, and has interpretive placques with braille printing, and guiding ropes.

The trail was named for a Casper Mountain Lion Lee McCune, who "gave his life for Lionism." It was dedicated July 19, 1975, "to the visually handicapped and the sighted of America to enjoy God's unique world of nature."

The trail is one third of a mile long.

Here's a site that shares some information about the trail: http://www.casperwyoming.info/specmerchant.php?id=10771