The Basics
The Trail System is open all year.
It is open to hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing. Dogs are welcome.
There is a fee of $5 per vehicle for each day at the Summit, Tie City, and Happy Jack Trailheads. The Medicine Bow Routt National Forest Day Use Pass is accepted along with all Interagency Recreation Passes.
The are 9 easy trails totaling 7.4 miles.
There are 12 moderate trails totaling 12.8 miles.
There are 10 difficult trails totaling 10.3 miles.
Trail Photos
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Go to Flickr for more photos.
Video
Recent Conditions
Check out our trail reports for recent conditions on the Tie City and Happy Jack trail system. And feel free to leave your own report in the comments below.
Description
The Tie City and Happy Jack trail system is hard to beat. It is very accessible from both Laramie and Cheyenne and has over 30 miles of unique trails. You could easily spend four weekends in a row here and not run out of new trails.
Most trails are well marked with blue diamonds and signs at the intersections. Additionally there are several unmarked stock trails that get regularly used by hikers and mountain bikers.
For winter sports, the trails that start from the Tie City Trailhead are groomed for cross country skiing by the Medicine Bow Nordic Association. Snowshoers will have more fun starting from the Happy Jack trailhead.
Our friend Roger Ludwig has written several articles about the trails in this area which are all available on his website Away From The Grind. Check out these: Pole Mountain Aspens, A Pole Mountain Secret, Cross Country Skiing at Happy Jack Ski Trails, and Headquarters Trail.
Guides
If you are looking for a guide to take with you on the around Tie City and Happy Jack:
- You can view, download, and print a PDF version of our free trail guide.
- You can find these trails in our Snowy Range and Pole Mountain Trail Deck sold through our partner, Laramie’s Basecamp.
- The Medicine Bow Nordic Association has some great information about cross country skiing and trail grooming from Tie City.
- The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest has a status page and they publish the Medicine Bow National Forest Map – Waterproof.
- These trails are also part of the Hiking Wyoming’s Medicine Bow National Forest – Third Edition book by Marc Smith.
Trails
Medicine Bow Peak Trail
The trails range in elevation between 8,400 and 8,900 feet.
The trail difficulty rating is based mostly on winter use activities.
Aspen Trail (1.5 Miles)
Browns Landing Trail (0.7 Miles)
Cardiac Bypass (0.2 Miles)
Crow Creek Loop (3.7 Miles)
Death Crotch (1.8 Miles)
Headquarters Trail (4.1 Miles)
Haunted Forest Trail (1.6 Miles)
Middle Aspen Trail (0.7 Miles)
Old Happy Jack Road (2.9 Miles)
Pole Creek Trail (1.7 Miles)
Snowshoe Trail (1.1 Miles)
Spur Trail (1.1 Miles)
Summit Trail (0.6 Miles)
The following trails are groomed in the winter by the MBNA:
Alder Trail (0.5 Miles)
Blackjack Loop (0.6 Miles)
Campground Loop (0.5 Miles)
Gobi’s Loop (0.1 Miles)
Haunted Forest Loop (0.3 Miles)
Lower UW Trail (0.6 Miles)
Meadow Trail (0.5 Miles)
Moose Loop (0.6 Miles)
Phil’s Pholly (0.9 Miles)
Ridge Trail (0.5 Miles)
Roller Coaster (0.3 Miles)
Summit Loop (1.2 Miles)
Tie City Turnpike (0.2 Miles)
Upper UW Loop (0.7 Miles)
Van’s Loop (1.2 Miles)
Directions
The several trailheads can be reached by traveling on I-80 between Cheyenne and Laramie. Get off I-80 and onto Highway 210 by taking exit 323. Or take Highway 210 west from Cheyenne. The Tie City Trailhead is on Highway 210 between mile markers 36 and 37. Happy Jack Trailhead can be accessed by following the signs on Highway 210 between mile markers 35 and 36. There are also two other trailheads that can be reached by traveling down headquarters road (look for signs for Blair-Wallis).
Select the Google Map tab next to the Just Trails Map tab at the top of the page to see a directions map.
You can help other people explore by leaving some comments about the Tie City and Happy Jack Area below.
Tie City Parking Area
Tie City Trailhead
Earlier today we spent some time on the trails from the Happy Jack Trailhead. There’s enough snow to ski right now.
How are conditions now? What is the snow total?
Can you recommended a trail and trailhead for experienced skiers?
Thank you very much!
The Medicine Bow Nordic Association web page is the place to go for current snow and grooming information. (http://www.medicinebownordic.org/) Follow the links to their “Grooming Blog.” If you want to ski on groomed trails the only trailhead to use is Tie City. Otherwise I like the Happy Jack Trailhead.
I’m used to in groomed backcountry trails but thought we would start at TS. Can you recommend trails that you like?
I’m not quite sure I know what you’re asking but up at Tie City, I like to ski out to Summit Loop and I’ll make a few laps putting different combinations of the trails together. One of the nice things about a dense trail network is that there are so many options you can do loops forever.