To reach Curt Gowdy State Park, an increasing number of mountain bikers from Colorado are driving up Happy Jack Road to about halfway between Cheyenne and Laramie.

They're drawn by a 35-mile trail system established in 2006 and declared by the International Mountain Bicycling Association to be an "epic" destination, the only such recognition in Wyoming, according to Visit Laramie.

The park's 19.2-mile loop track winds through granite rock formations, canyons, high plains and flowing forest stretches increasingly filled with riders sometimes referred to as "greenies" due to the white-and-green Colorado license plates populating the parking lot at Curt Gowdy State Park.

"Curt Gowdy, they were seeing three to 400,000 visitors a year during COVID. I believe it's close to 600,000 now. And ab

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