I recently moved to northern Colorado and while the outdoor scene here is amazing, I often miss my old haunts. I remember driving to Joshua Tree a few times a year to scramble in the playground of rock formations it holds. I know I loved it there because I would bear the heat in the off season, and bear the crowds in the peak and always come back.
Of course don’t get me wrong – living in Colorado is amazing. Although, there is something magical about those rock formations in Joshua Tree. It’s enough to convince you that you’ve left earth and somehow landed on an alien planet.
Thankfully, if Joshua Tree is out of range, or hey – maybe you just want to try somewhere new, then there’s Vedauwoo (pronounced Vay-duh-voo).
It’s a climbers mecca made up of sticky granite rock, perfect for bouldering. Or if you prefer ropes, there’s plenty of crack climbs around here as well.
When I went, I didn’t do much climbing aside from the massive boulder in my campsite. But there’s another great thing about this area: it’s all dispersed camping. Just drive your car down any of the dirt roads in the area and you’ll stumble across countless campsites to stay at.
Here is where me and my friend decided to set up camp. It was completely private, with the only other campers being at least a half a mile down the road.
If you don’t like the idea of dispersed camping and (slightly) roughing it, then there’s also an established campground with more amenities. This could also be a better option if you’re a climber because it’s closer to the largest formations of boulders.
Where I camped you could definitely still find boulders, but it was more of a hike to get to each than if I camped closer to the “park boundary”.
As of writing this and camping, fires were OK in designated pits too. This was really nice considering we were in Wyoming and the wind there can be pretty brutal. Actually, speaking of the weather… it can be very random. When we arrived it was sunny and raining, but about an hour later we were nearing the high 80s with no clouds. The next night there were thunderstorms in the distance but we had an easy 70 degrees to soak up.
Be careful about going on a weekend because college kids from Wyoming, as well as weekend warriors from everywhere nearby, will quickly fill up the spots. When we first arrived, we thought it would be impossible to find a spot but we just decided to drive further down the road than everyone else and we ended up with a spot much better in return.
That’s where I leave you. I hope that this little primer gave you some inspiration to check out the amazing world of Vedauwoo!
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