Sidney Deadwood Trail

This morning, I decided to get out of town for a walk. Checking AllTrails, it looks like the closest trail to home that I have not hiked yet is the Sidney Deadwood Trail in the town of Sidney, Nebraska.

I made the drive down to Sidney and stopped at Cabela's to use the restroom. Then I parked at the Pony Express Memorial to start my walk.

From the Pony Express Memorial I had to cut around a small pond (and lots of goose poop), cross a busy highway (without crosswalks or sidewalks) and then cut over to the official start of the trail. I probably would have been better off just parking at the start of the trail on a dead-end road near a hotel. The trail is completely paved and starts by descending down towards Lodgepole Creek on a curving path.

This first section of trail seems little used and heads through old fields past a windmill 

and through a prairie dog town. It then heads past the local branch of Western Nebraska Community College and into a proper city park, complete with exercise equipment and disc golf. The trail passes through a tunnel under a road.

The next section of trail seems pretty heavily used as it traverses alongside Lodgepole Creek and Legion Park, including the Cheyenne County Community Center.

Besides the community center and some ball fields, the trail passes a small pond with lots of geese,

and an old steam engine.

Then the trail heads through some nice neighborhoods on the outskirts of town, staying in the drainage of the Lodgepole Creek.

The trail heads to the far edge of town past industrial infrastructure like cell towers and train tracks.

The trail terminus is at the Cheyenne County Fairgrounds. Here I turned around and headed back the way I had come. On the way back I decided to take a short detour into the Living Memorial Gardens.

To my surprise, there were still a few flowers in bloom in the beds there.

As I approached the end of the trail, I noticed utility flagging I had never seen before. It must mark the location of communications or electrical wiring for some of the missile silos in the area. 

Soapstone Prairie Natural Area: Cheyenne Rim Trail

This government shutdown keeps dragging on. Today, I decided to get out of town for a longer hike at Soapstone Prairie Natural Area. Today I would be hiking the Cheyenne Rim Trail. I had hiked a portion of the northern section of the trail during a hike I had started at nearby Red Mountain Open Space. This hike would take me on the southern 7.8-mile-long section of the trail.

I arrived at the trailhead just after sunrise and immediately headed out. 

The sun felt good as it rose above the horizon and warmed me up a bit. The beginning portion of the hike would take me through rolling prairie 

along the edge of the bison enclosure. Unfortunately, I could only see bison way off in the distance. 

The last of the colorful sumac leaves still clung to their shrubs. 

The trail steadily continued towards the foothills, climbing gradually. 

Eventually, I started to climb a bit to reach the top of the Cheyenne Rim. The views from the rim were quite spectacular. 

You could look out over the Red Mountain Open Space and even see the snowcapped peaks to the west. At one particular rocky outcrop, I stopped to eat a snack and enjoy the view. 

Eventually, I started to make my way back to the trailhead, following the same route I had taken on the way in. 

The distant Rawhide Energy Station was a major landmark for the hike back to the trailhead. 

I was quite tired and footsore by the time I made it back to the trailhead for the drive home. 

Duncan Ranch

There was a good weather forecast for today. That, along with a chance to see some fall color before the leaves are gone convinced me to head into Wyoming to check out Duncan Ranch. It was a pretty long drive through Guernsey and Douglas to Glenrock. At Glenrock I headed up into the foothills of the Laramie Range to the start of my hike.

As I set off on the trail, I noticed that there was still fall color in some of the clumps of aspen trees.

I could tell this was going to be a great hike as I found evidence that people lose their soles out here. This one was right out on the trail. 

I headed into a wooded area and found a couple of grouse.

The trail continued on, making a loop and winding into areas of forest and meadow. The scenery was superb.

The trail made a loop of just over five miles. 

While I had hoped to maybe see some elk out on the trail, I didn't really see any wildlife other than the grouse and some prairie dogs in a dog town near the trailhead.

Still, the beautiful scenery and fall colors made the long drive worth it. 

I would return to the area to hike again with Noelle.