USFS · Wyoming, Colorado

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest

Medicine Bow–Routt National Forest is the official title to a U.S. Forest Service managed area extending over 2,222,313 acres (8,993.38 km2) in the states of Wyoming and Colorado, United States. What were once three separate areas, Medicine Bow National Forest, Routt National Forest, and Thunder Basin National Grassland were administratively combined in 1995 due to similarity of the resources, proximity to each other and for administrative purposes.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

National Forest4.6 million acresUSFSWYCO79 campgrounds within 10 mi237 Forest Service sites368 trails
Official page at U.S. Forest Service ↗

Facts

Where each comes from ↓
DesignationNational Forest
Managed byU.S. Forest Service
StatesWyoming, Colorado
Size4.6 million acres
Forest Service code0206, region 02
Center point43.65° N, 105.02° W
Night skyVery dark ground, a faint glow at most (Black Marble reading 27)

Boundary map

7 outlines

Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees Federal campground Forest Service recreation site

The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest20°30°40°50°60°70°80°January: 0.32 inches of precipitationFebruary: 0.45 inches of precipitationMarch: 0.77 inches of precipitationApril: 2.03 inches of precipitationMay: 2.46 inches of precipitationJune: 2.43 inches of precipitationJuly: 2.52 inches of precipitationAugust: 0.99 inches of precipitationSeptember: 0.76 inches of precipitationOctober: 1.14 inches of precipitationNovember: 0.44 inches of precipitationDecember: 0.30 inches of precipitationJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 21.1°F averageFebruary: 23.5°F averageMarch: 32.5°F averageApril: 41.8°F averageMay: 51.2°F averageJune: 61.9°F averageJuly: 71.3°F averageAugust: 68.9°F averageSeptember: 58.1°F averageOctober: 44.2°F averageNovember: 30.9°F averageDecember: 21.7°F average0 in1 in2 in3 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Rochelle 7Ene, 9 miles from the center point at 4,239 feet, station USC00487810 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 15 inches a year.

Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.

Where to camp

Campsite Atlas →

49 federal campgrounds sit inside the boundary and 30 more are within ten miles of it. Nearest first. Distances are from the campground point to the boundary edge, from the Campsite Atlas index.

FS · Inside
Bear Lake Campground
First-come43 sites
FS · Inside
Big Creek Lakes Campground
Reservable60 sites
FS · Inside
Blacktail Creek Campground
First-comeCO
FS · Inside
Brooklyn Lake Campground
Reservable28 sites
FS · Inside
Campbell Creek Campground
Reservable6 sites
FS · Inside
Chapman Reservoir Campground
First-come12 sites
FS · Inside
Cold Springs Campground
First-comeCO
FS · Inside
Crosho Lake Recreation Area
First-comeCO
Show 4 more

67 more within ten miles are not listed here.

Trailheads and sites

Forest Service directory · 237

The Forest Service lists 237 recreation sites in this forest, among them 89 day hikings, 52 campgrounds, 21 trailheads, 19 picnic areas. Each links to its page on fs.usda.gov, which carries the season, fees and current status.

Show all 60

The 60 closest to the center point are listed; 177 more are on the Forest Service site.

Distance is from the center point of the boundary, not from a road or town.

Trails

Every trail on Trailhead Atlas →

The Forest Service trail layer records 368 named trails in this forest, 1,548 miles in all. The 10 longest are listed here.

TrailMiles
Wyoming Trail ↗61.8
Bears Ears ↗51.2
Snyder Creek Loop ↗49.2
Continental Divide Nation Scen ↗42.9
Grizzley-Helena ↗30
Radial Mountain ↗22
Swamp Park ↗20.6
Albany Trail ↗20.5
Main Fork ↗18.8
Elkhorn ↗15.8

Lengths and allowed uses come from the Forest Service trail layer by way of Trailhead Atlas. This trail list was copied from Trailhead Atlas on November 1, 2026 and is copied again on each weekly run. Trails in plain text have no page there yet.

All 368 trails in Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest on Trailhead Atlas ↗

Explore

Nearby on the other atlases

National Park System units within 30 miles · Park Atlas
National Park · 12 mi
Rocky Mountain National Park
National Monument · 18 mi
Devils Tower National Monument
National Monument · 25 mi
Jewel Cave National Monument
National Register listings within 15 miles · 97 in all · Register Atlas

Landmarks are listed first, then by distance from the boundary.

Guidebooks for Wyoming

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

  • Hiking Wyoming's Wind River Range
    Ben Adkison, 2023
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Hiking Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains
    Ken (Naturalist) Keffer, 2017
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Hiking Grand Teton National Park
    Bill Schneider, 2018
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Top Trails: Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
    Andrew Dean Nystrom, 2017
    Find at Bookshop.org
  • Best Easy Day Hikes Jackson Hole
    Dina Mishev, 2017
    Find at Bookshop.org

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

How big is Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest?

4.6 million acres.

Source: Forest Service boundary data

Who manages Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest?

The U.S. Forest Service.

Source: U.S. Forest Service

What state is Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in?

The boundary crosses Wyoming and Colorado.

Source: How states are assigned

Can I camp at Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest?

Dispersed camping is allowed on most national forest land outside developed sites. Check the forest page for closures. The federal campgrounds within ten miles are listed under Where to camp.

Source: Where to camp

How do I get to Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest?

A point inside the boundary is at 43.652° N, 105.023° W. Rocky Mountain National Park is 12 miles away. The official page carries directions and the office address.

Source: U.S. Forest Service

Which national parks are near Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest?

Rocky Mountain National Park (12 mi), Devils Tower National Monument (18 mi) and Jewel Cave National Monument (25 mi). Park Atlas has fees, hours and alerts for each.

Source: Nearby on the other atlases

Are there historic places near Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest?

The National Register has 97 listings within 15 miles, including Brooklyn Lodge and Centennial Work Center.

Source: Register Atlas

Sources

  • Boundary, name, acreage and code: the Forest Service Enterprise Data Warehouse.
  • States and territories: computed by intersecting the boundary with Census state polygons and coarse outlines of the territories and outlying islands. A place is listed when it holds at least one percent of the area. A boundary that touches no outline is listed under the nearest one.
  • Description: Medicine Bow–Routt National Forest on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The article was accepted because its title contains this unit’s name.
  • Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
  • Trailheads and sites: the Forest Service Recreation Opportunities layer, matched by forest code.
  • Trails: the Trailhead Atlas open-data file of Forest Service trails, matched by forest code.
  • Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
  • Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.