Platte County High Point Trip Report
Date: April 17, 2003
Author: Tim Worth
an attempt
The existing report had me concerned. This county HP is Remote, with a capital R. I was unable to get
within a mile of the location, ultimately throwing in the towel on account of darkness and general confusion.
The topo shows a private dirt track going near the HPs, but unmarked, unmapped roads and private
property complicated matters. The existing report mentions approaches from the northwest; two incomplete
approaches from the southeast are described below.
Starting in Cheyenne on I-25 north, exit at interchange 17 (WY 211/Horse Creek Road). Take WY 211 about
40 miles to "Iron Mountain", which isn't a town but a PO Box for the Farthing Ranch. From the railroad
crossing and ranch entrance, head north/northwest on an unsigned road (Mclees Road and 103-1 Road on DeLorme).
There are numerous side roads, often gated, which do not match up with DeLorme. The topo
map I used was an inadequate Topozone printout of the only HP area itself. Boneheadedly, I followed the
main gravel road and unknowingly ended up at a ranch at a dead end to the west, in Albany County.
Be smart and bring a topo of the full approach area. The road to look for is labeled "Road Canyon" on the
1:100,000 topo, likely one of the many side tracks I had passed. This road would ideally take you north to
the HP area.
I headed back to WY 211 and drove north ~8 miles, where the road crossed the railroad, passed through
ranch buildings, and turns to gravel. DeLorme shows this as Jordan Road but there are no signs. Just past
the ranch and a slight uphill jog there is a signed road to the west. Turn here. Look for the immense
amount of junk (old gas pumps, farming machinery) west-southwest of this intersection. Follow this
reasonable gravel road past an unnamed lake (not shown on the topo or DeLorme) to a residence. No one
was there. If permission could be granted here, it would still be a 3 - 4 mile hike to the HP, an option but
hardly a recommendation. Darkness was falling and it was bail-out time for me.
The topo shows a potential third approach from the east, off WY211/Jordan Road about 1.1 miles north of the
junkyard intersection. Only later I became aware of this option and now wished I had explored it at the time.
Even with careful map reading it is easy to get lost out there. I hope someone can someday find a way in
from the southeast. I wanted to try and contact the landowner but it is unclear who owns the HP land or
even if they would be willing to grant access. It seems very tough to get to the HP without co-operation
from ranchers in the area.