Medicine Lodge Archaeological Site State Park, Hyattville, WY

I hesitate to write about this park because I consider it our special find and I don't want it to become too populated.  We found this park during summer of 2018 when we were heading across Wyoming towards South Dakota.  At that time we decided against an unplanned visit to Yellowstone and instead sought out other Wyoming nature to explore.  We found this park and Boysen State Park on a blog about the unsung places of Wyoming.  They were right on both counts.  Medicine Lodge, however, has a special appeal and that is why we booked a week with my parents there this summer.

Most sites are first-come first served, but there are a couple reservable ones and we put our reservation in early because we knew we were staying the week of 4th of July.  According to park staff this is the busiest week of their season.  The group site was packed with people, but the layout of the park is so nice that we really didn't deal with the crowd at all.  Here are our two sites, relatively remote from the other parts of the campground.  The back of the sites are against the river pictured above so you can hear rushing water at all times when at the sites.  It is wonderful.  As you can see, there is also a lot of shade at these sites, but there are also patches of sun where we could set out our solar panel.

There are a number of paths through the park that take you through the various climate zones.  The deer trail is rather steep and takes you up to some fantastic views.  The best part of staying a week is that we got to hike this one a couple times.  

There is also a nature trail that take you along the river and over the various bridges.

The nature trail also takes you to the petroglyph cliff and the informational cabins that present the anthropological history of the area (that goes back to the time of mammoths).

There are two wonderful playgrounds (though they are near the parts of the campground that were full while we were there) and plenty of places to cast a fishing line.  Though much fishing was done, we didn't catch anything - I guess brown trout are the natural fish of these rivers.  (I don't really know anything about fishing, but my mom and dad were teaching the kids)

Regarding the amenities in this park - there are no hook-ups, but you can fill your fresh water tank.  There is no dump station, but they have the cleanest pit toilets I have ever seen - complete with air freshner!  We used our solar panel and got through the week just fine.  There is no Verizon service and no WiFi offered by the park so you must be ok with an unplugged stay.  This is a place to sit around, read, fish and walk in nature.  We even went to a star gazing party and got an amazing view of the night sky.  Husband commuted to the town of Worland to work from the library on three of the days we were booked there.

What I love about Medicine Lodge is that the camping and the nature around you are the attraction.  We didn't have to drive to see anything, we just walked out of our doors.  I enjoy this type of camping and if Husband didn't have to work we could have done more of it (like at Grand Teton). I am especially glad we got to share this time with my parents and we celebrated Sister's 5th BD here - so it was a special week on many counts.  If you go, please don't tell anyone else, because I want to go back again next year and I hope it is just the same. Last pictures - I am really proud of the river picture.  The monarch on milkweed was captured by my mom who should be proud of that one!

Edit: I forgot to mention one of the other huge pluses of this park - it is $9/night - $63/week.

But seriously - no hook ups and no dump station, so you probably should pass it by ;)