LOCAL AREA

Alcova Reservoir and its surrounding lands provide excellent water oriented recreational facilities and are the primary recreation area for Casper and the surrounding region. Sailboating and water skiing in summer and ice fishing in winter attract many visitors each year. Picnic areas, camp areas, and beach facilities are also popular. The reservoir covers 2,470 surface acres. Facilities include 6 campgrounds, 8 boat ramps, an interpretive trail, and a marina concession.

Casper College, the home of the Thunder Birds offers more than 50 academic majors and 30 technical and career field options. The academic side of the college is organized into five different schools: Business and Industry, Fine Arts and Humanities, Health Science, Science, Social and Behavioral Science.

The Ford Wyoming Center hosts a variety of sporting and entertainment events annually. The event center provides all staff services required to stage an event at competitive rates. This personnel includes box office services, security, medical, stagehands, maintenance, ushers and registration personnel, etc.

Casper Mountain is a long mountain at the north end of the Laramie Mountains overlooking Casper along the North Platte River. At a top elevation of 8,130 feet, the mountain rises 3,000 feet above Casper and is visible from space from the ISS and Space Shuttle. There are many year round recreational opportunities on the mountain that are perfect for adventure seekers and sightseers!

The Casper Planetarium is open to the public on Saturday nights with shows at 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM. The Planetarium first opened in 1966 as the first of its kind in Wyoming. In 2006, shortly after its 40th anniversary the planetarium was renovated.

The Casper Ice Arena is one of the finest ice skating facilities in the Rocky Mountain Region. The ice arena offers a wide variety of programs including public skating, skating classes through the Casper Skating School, figure skating, hockey, curling, special evetns, birthday parties, and private rentals. The ice arena also offers a full service concession stand, skate sharpening and the best source for skating equipment, gear and apparel-Bush Wells Pro Skate Shop.

The Eastridge mall provides an abundance of shopping that is certainly worth a visit on your next trip to Casper! Stores within the mall include; AT&T, Bath & Body Works, Bed Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Claire's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Famous Footwear, GNC, GameStop, Go! Calendars & Games, Hickory Farms, Hot Topic, JCPenny, Journeys, Maurices, Pro Image Sports, Riddle's Jewelry, Ross, Rue21, Encore Shoe Department, Spencers, and Target.

Ski Resort Located 11 miles south of Casper on Casper Mountain. The mountain features about 24 trails of varying difficulty. Of those trails, 20% are beginner, 40% are intermediate and 40% are expert ski terrain. The mountain also features a snow board terrain park covering 600 vertical feet. The resort offers a restaurant as well. Hogadon is one of the few resorts in the country that has the actual resort building located on the summit as opposed to the base.

The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center is a cooperative partnership between BLM, the National Historic Trails Center Foundation and the City of Casper. The Trails Center interprets the significant role of the area's historic trails in the history of the United States, and seeks to promote public understanding of both America's western Native Cultures and historic westward expansion while highlighting BLM's role as active stewards of public lands.

The Nicolaysen Art Museum & Discovery Center's history begins in 1967, when Casper's Mary Durham along with a group of friends hosted the first art show in a little white house that still stands at the corner of "A" and Park streets. The Nicolaysen Art Museum educates and enriches the community through engaging experiences in contemporary art.

North Platte River is a tributary of the Platte River, approximately 680 miles long, in the US states of Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska. It forms the Platte at its confluence with the South Platte River in western Nebraska. The river provides the major avenue of drainage for eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska. Although it is not navigable except at high water, it has been an important route of transportation in the westward expansion of the United States.