Biking Casper, Wyoming's North Platte River Trail

This 10 mile paved trail runs from Morad Park on the west side of Casper to North Platte Park on the east, switching sides of the river via several bridges -- both bike-pedestrian bridges and road bridges. The best views of the river of course are from those bridges.

Rest benches and picnic areas are available along the trail, too.

Five whitewater kayak features have been created along the eastern end of the trail, but unfortunately none were being used as I biked.

They even offer several places where you can borrow life jackets to paddle or play in the water.

A BP oil refinery had been located along the river. After its removal, BP spent $160 million on cleanup and redevelopment. Over six years and using 300 workers, they removed 200+ miles of buried pipes, excavated, crushed, and reused 300,000 tons of concrete, installed nearly 100 groundwater pumping wells, drove 8000 linear feet of steel sheeting into the ground as a protective barrier, excavated over 500,000 cubic yards (40,000 truckloads) of waste materials and impacted soil, and graded and shaped over a million cubic yards of material to build the Three Crowns public golf course!

The result is a beautiful riverfront redeveloped for recreational use.

The trail takes riders by Fort Caspar which offers a museum and outdoor exhibits. There is even a campground.

As I biked the trail, I realized how wonderful it was to see mountains in the background as I rode -- not something I ever see back home on my Chicagoland trails!

I found the best places to park to access the trail are Morad Park (2800 SW Wyoming Blvd.) and Amoco Park (1007 W. 1st St.).