Wyoming fishing and camping ideas

iaengineer

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I have a week or so free in August and was thinking about going to Wyoming do some fishing. My wife loves to camp by rivers and my youngest son loves to fly fish. I am looking for someplace I can park my camper by a river for a few days. I would like to stay in southeastern part of the state. I have looked at the North Platte but don't know anything about it like if there are any good spots to camp close to the river. So I am looking for any suggestions.
 
Plenty of good fishing around Saratoga. The Encampment is a fun river to fish. Plenty of access points on the North Platte.
 
Try Bennett Peak campground. It's on the upper n. platte. Or Treasure Island is a fun place too, although it's more of a parking lot you can camp at rather than an actual campground. Both are upstream of Saratoga. Otherwise, Miracle Mile section offers camping along the river and fishing too- it is a couple hours downstream of Saratoga on the Platte.
My vote this time of year would be the upper campground on the Wind River, below Boysen reservoir. It is between Shoshone and Thermopolis. Excellent fishing and roadside campground. Thermopolis Hot Springs are a bonus too!
 
Miracle Mile is my favorite river to fish with meat.


You can camp right on the river.

I believe it is a 2.5 hour venture from Laramie to get there, but it is worth it.

It is a tailwater fishery that is wade-able for the most part and there are big fish to be had.

A lot of people fish it with bobbers and have a great deal of success, but personally I would rather throw meat all day and catch less fish to see some eruptions on the streamers.
 
Thanks for all the input so far I am leaning towards the miracle mile. Sounds great. Are the places to camp easy to find? I read that a lot of it is private?

I got an email at work from my 13 year old son with this picture. I am not a fly fisherman and don't really know much about it. He was the only one in like the last 30 years to check this fly tying book out from his school library. The librarian ask him if wanted it because they were getting rid of some books. We live on a river that has smallmouth so he is trying to make some bass flies. He is determined to catch some trout with flies he makes. photo.jpg
 
It's great to see a young man enthusiastic about the outdoors AND willing to put some time and effort into them.
 
If your mind is not yet made up, I recommend Pickaroon Campground on the Upper North Platte. It's easily my favorite place to fish in this area. The hiking is great, and you drive through the Snowy Range. Your odds of seeing moose and elk along the way are pretty high in the evening/early morning. On your way, you can fish the streams that flow into Rob Roy Reservoir as well as Douglas Creek. All public land. I have run into big horn sheep there on multiple occasions. I would choose Pickaroon over Miracle Mile in a heart beat.
 
Anything in the Snowies will be your gateway to some great fishing. Saratoga has the N Platte River and Savery Res. where you can catch tiger trout. Free hot spring pool in Saratoga also and a brew fest on Aug. 20 that is family friendly. Many small lakes in the Snowies fish great and they were recently stocked with several species of cutthroat and golden trout. Plains lakes on Laramie side also fish well.
 
I agree with all these post. I would probably opt for somewhere around Saratoga with some days trips to fish some of the high lakes in the snowies in sugar loaf rec. the miracle mile though is a dandy. Wish it were me having to decide.

Stop off at the West Laramie Flystore and check local results.
 
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I am leaning towards the suggestions of around Saratoga and then maybe a day or two around the lakes near sugar loaf. I looked at the Pickaroon campground on the map. As far as I can tell it looks like a lot of places to camp in that area. Is it crowded? I just don't want to get there have trouble finding a place to camp.
 
I am leaning towards the suggestions of around Saratoga and then maybe a day or two around the lakes near sugar loaf. I looked at the Pickaroon campground on the map. As far as I can tell it looks like a lot of places to camp in that area. Is it crowded? I just don't want to get there have trouble finding a place to camp.

It's hard to say. The most crowded I've seen Pickaroon was on a holiday weekend in early July, and it still wasn't too crowded for my comfort. The campground was full, but there are other places to camp along the river (tent or camper). It's certainly less crowded than Rob Roy campground and the campgrounds at Sugar Loaf. I once went on a weekend in early August and was pleased to find the campground empty. I'm not sure if that was normal or a fluke. In my experience, there are more day trippers than campers. On a week day, I'd expect you to have the place almost to yourself.

If you go to Sugar Loaf, you may want to hike to fish North Gap Lake before the sun hits the water. Every time I've done this, the fishing has been ON FIRE. I've only ever done this in July though. It's a short hike, but be careful if you're not used to the elevation. At Sugar Loaf, I've had good luck where Libby Creek flows out of Libby Lake. Sugar Loaf can get VERY crowded, especially this time of year when most of the snow is gone from the myriad of hiking trails.
 
Saratoga and the surrounding area is a great choice. Great fishing, camping, and an excellent Rocky Mtn vacation.
Hobo Hot Springs are great too.
 
You can camp anywhere in the forest, just find a flat spot and pull over. Saratoga will be a great starting point. That free hot spring pool feels great after sunset. Brewfest on Aug. 20 in town and it's family friendly not a drunken throwdown. The drive up into the Snowies is beautiful. It's starting to get cool at night bring a jacket, 40's in Laramie so the forest will be nice.
 
+1 North Gap. I can't remember the name of the dirt road that winds from 130 back to little Brooklyn but I have always enjoyed just pitching a tent in that area overlooking the peaks. This time of year shouldn't be a crowd.IMG_0080.jpg
IMG_0023.jpg
 
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Heading out tomorrow. Thanks for all the input everyone is super excited. Hopefully I will have some pictures to post next week.
 
+1 North Gap. I can't remember the name of the dirt road that winds from 130 back to little Brooklyn but I have always enjoyed just pitching a tent in that area overlooking the peaks. This time of year shouldn't be a crowd.View attachment 60517
View attachment 60518

This Medicine Bow Peaks trail is an awesome hike! Hiked the loop frequently when I lived in Saratoga.
 
This Medicine Bow Peaks trail is an awesome hike! Hiked the loop frequently when I lived in Saratoga.

It's a beautiful hike!

iaengineer, have a great time and post pics when you get back. There are normally some moose running around up there around the sugar loaf too.
 
NCM_0208.jpgNCM_0211.jpg
We had an awesome time. Thanks for all the tips. There was a nice insect hatch. My son caught a few on his own flies. I even caught a few on a fly rod. We saw moose, deer, elk, and my son hike some and saw a large herd of sheep.
 
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