Discover Fresh Air Fabulous in Casper, WY
Get ready to explore a wide range of year-round outdoor activities in Casper.
If you like the great outdoors, you’ve come to the right place. Mother Nature has been kind to this region, and the bountiful outdoor activities in Casper are appreciated by its residents along with thousands of visitors each year.
In Casper, many residents find their community outdoors, where pretty much any day of the week you can count on a running team, biathlon club or a group of fly fishermen meeting up. Outdoor adventure is literally available year-round thanks to beautiful venues like the North Platte River, Hogadon Basin Ski Area, Edness Kimball Wilkins Park, Casper Mountain – and on and on.
In the cold weather winter months, fun and invigorating activities can include snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, Nordic skiing and snowboarding. Also popular is riding fat bikes, which are similar to mountain bikes, but have oversized tires that allow riders to glide through softer terrain such as freshly fallen powder.
Another fun wintertime activity is attending events organized by the Casper Mountain Biathlon Club. Biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting, and the Casper Mountain Biathlon Club and Natrona County have a cross-country ski-and-biathlon venue on Casper Mountain adjacent to the Nordic ski trails.
We’re a Windy City, Too
Another invigorating outdoor wintertime activity is running – yes, running. Such is the case with the Windy City Striders, a running club founded in 1982 that features a five-race winter series starting in mid-January.
“It’s cold and windy and snowy here in Casper during the winter, and we encourage anyone to head outdoors and get some fresh air and running exercise in January,” says Geneva Engelhart, Windy City Striders board president. “Our five-race winter calendar begins with a 2-mile event, then a 5K, a 4-miler, a 5-miler and finishes with a 10K.”
The Striders also host a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot and a New Year’s Eve 5K Resolution Run.
“We use the Platte River Trail system for many of our runs,” Engelhart says. “That system has miles of manicured trails that are great to use all year, including the winter.”
And why the name Windy City Striders? “Yes, Chicago is the official Windy City, but the winds also blow constantly in Casper, especially in the winter,” she says. “I like everything about being in Casper. There are safe running conditions along a good mix of roads and trails.”
All-Season Sports
By the springtime, weather conditions bring about exercise opportunities such as paddleboarding, mountain biking and road biking as well as hiking along the Casper Rail Trail and the Platte River Trail. For those who like to fish, Casper was named the No. 1 Big Fish Destination by American Angler magazine – a recognition for a region famous for blue-ribbon trout fishing.
Another big reason for that accolade is the North Platte River, which has anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 fish per mile, according to the Wyoming Game & Fish Department.
In the summertime, outdoor activities in Casper can include rock climbing and wildlife viewing. In addition, early June always features a Casper Marathon that celebrates its 20th anniversary in June 2023, and the event is certified as a qualifier for the Boston Marathon.
In the fall, hunters can traverse millions of acres of public land and be assisted by licensed outfitters and guides to find pronghorn antelope, elk, deer, duck, geese, pheasants, sage grouse, turkey and more. Also in the fall is an annual T-Bird Trek organized by Casper College, with runners and walkers participating in a 5K, 10K, Lookout Point Half Marathon or a Downhill Half Marathon.
“It’s easy to have fun in the Casper outdoors at any time of the year, and you can enjoy all different kinds of activities,” Engelhart says. “The outdoors provides great places to have fun and get together with friends.”
And Don’t Fore-get the Great Golf Courses
We hope you’ll hit ’em straight and far when playing golf at any of the four courses that grace Casper. Two of the facilities are private – Casper Country Club and Paradise Valley Country Club – while Casper Municipal Golf Course and Three Crowns Golf Club are open to the public.
Casper Country Club is an 18-hole, par 70, 6,117-yard course located at the base of Casper Mountain, and CCC also has a restaurant, swimming pool and tennis courts. Paradise Valley Country Club is an 18-hole, par-71 course measuring 6,700 yards, and its clubhouse features a restaurant and bar.
Casper Municipal has three nine-hole courses named Links, Park and Highland, while Three Crowns was constructed by Bruce Charlton of the famed Robert Trent Jones golf course design group. Charlton transformed an old oil refinery site into the 18-hole Three Crowns property that is now a recreational highlight for the community.
Get to Know Casper
Want to learn more about living and working in Casper, WY? Check out the latest edition of Livability Casper, Wyoming.