West Lake Marie Trailhead — Attraction in Wyoming

We summited Medicine Bow Peak today and it was the second most beautiful hike I've ever done. I loved every minute of it. We brought our dog and she even enjoyed it! I'd recommend getting to this parking lot early. We arrived on a Sunday morning at just before 8am and there were already about 8 cars in the lot. By the time we finished the hike, the parking lot was full and there were several cars parked on the street. There are so many trails you can do from this parking lot, or if you just want to see the lake, this is also a great lot. I'd absolutely recommend coming here at least once in your life - it's absolutely stunning.

The hike to Medicine Bow Peak should take about 6 hours - or if you're like us and has a dog with you - it will possibly take closer to 7 hours (lots of stopping to sniff things, etc). Bring sunscreen, a hat, tons of water, and maybe a light jacket for the peak (it's windy). Most of this trail is exposed and there's limited shade. I'd 100% recommend going clockwise on this trail.

There is a vault toilet in the parking lot but it's not clean and there was no toilet paper when we...

We hiked out-and-back from this trailhead to Lookout Lake on Labor Day Weekend in 2024, for a total of about 3.0 mile in about 3-3/4 hours (we took our sweet time and ate lunch at the Mirror Lake Picnic Area). The elevation gain is only about 200’; but, be aware that it is all above 10,400’. The parking lot at the trailhead was full, so we found parking across the highway at the Tipple Trailhead. There is an easy connector trail from the Tipple Trailhead to the West Lake Marie Trailhead. The vault toilets at the West Lake Marie Trailhead was well-stocked and fairly clean.

This is a delightful trail! The views of the rockbound peaks of the Snowy Range are spectacular! Despite the large amount of people, we still enjoyed a pleasant time on the trail.

Highly...

We hiked to top of Medicine Bow Peek from Lake Marie. I would classify this as a moderate/difficult hike if you do the whole loop up the mountain and then around the lakes. It is over 6 miles and has some scrambling and almost none of the trail is smooth. Bring lots of water and come early because it fills up. Technically, I would say the trail isn't hard but after hours of hiking it easy to lose your footing. My wife who does light exercise (walking, bike riding, low impact aerobics) for 45-60 minutes a day found this hike to be hard. I am more fit and found it a little easier, but not "easy". The views are great though and we had planned better I would have hit one of those lakes for...