An old caboose at the Medicine Bow Museum. The really cool thing was that we could walk right inside it!
Visiting the Medicine Bow Museum in Medicine Bow, WY was a bit of an accident. We hadn’t planned to be in the area at all, but then figured we’d break up the trip by visiting the aircraft arrow in Medicine Bow. Driving in, one young member of my group spied an old bulldozer sitting outside the museum. We simply couldn’t leave (in his opinion!) until we’d visited long enough to look at the bulldozer. And by the time he’d looked at that, we’d spied an old sheepherder’s wagon, as well as a lot of old farm equipment, including many horse-drawn implements and a Chase steam thresher!
The Chase thresher
Well, with one thing and another, we probably spent 30 minutes wandering around the place. Admission is free, although donations are appreciated. Some highlights for us were the bulldozer (of course!), an old caboose you can actually walk inside (a first!), the sheepherder’s wagon…
The sheepherder’s wagon (and the back of the old bulldozer)
…and the interior of both buildings, which are simply chock-full of antiques and memorabilia.
One of the more sparsely furnished rooms – some of the other rooms are so full of antiques and memorabilia it’s hard to move!
There are virtually no gates and signs, so you get to police yourself – that’s my kind of museum! (Ok, there are a few signs saying “Please don’t touch” and another stating you’re under video surveillance, but if that’s what it takes to keep the place open, hey, I can live with it.)
Icebox (left) and old stove
One exception to the “don’t touch” request – old dinosaur bones!
Here are some pictures from around the place…and I can highly recommend it if you’re driving through the area!
One of the two buildings in the museum
Cow branding examples outside the museum
Old sled
An early version of a washing machine. Can’t say as I’m sorry these went out of style…
An antique wheelchair
The Virginian Hotel where Owen Wister wrote his novel “The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains” in 1902. The book would influence many other writers of westerns, including Zane Grey and Lois L’Amour. The dark objects in the foreground are part of the caboose.
Fees: None
Facilities: Restrooms in the museum; small gift shop
Old refrigerator and a Coleman stove
Interest 
Variety of things to look at
Signs
Would I go 100 miles out of my way for this?
Overall Rating:
Old fire fighting equipment. The museum backs up to the railroad, so you can get a pretty good view of the trains that pass by.
Key GPS Coordinates for the Medicine Bow Museum
Parking area: 41.89542N / -106.19997W (41° 53′ 43.512″ / -106° 11′ 59.8914″) (6,560ft.)
The entrance to the Medicine Bow Museum
Getting to the Medicine Bow Museum
In Laramie, WY, take Exit 313 to US-287 / 3rd St; turn right on US-287 for 57.5 miles. In the town of Medicine Bow, across the street from the Virginian Hotel, park in the small gravel parking area next to the sign about various cow brands. To return to I-80, go back to US-287; turn left. After 36.2 miles, turn right onto the ramp for I-80 W (at Exit 235 – if coming from the west, take Exit 235, turn north on US-287, and follow the good paved road 36.2 miles. In the town of Medicine Bow, across the street from the Virginian Hotel, will be a gravel parking area next to a sign about various cow brands). A sign also marks the Medicine Bow Museum.
Sign at the museum welcoming visitors to Medicine Bow – “Home of the World Champion Bull Chip Throw”
Zoom map out to browse nearby hikes & places of interest
This Week’s Featured Product!
If you prefer the road less traveled, this may very well be the guide for you. Wyoming has mile upon mile of dirt roads, often with interesting scenery, old towns, and so on and so forth. Just make sure to bring along a good map, as well – GPSs are notorious in Wyoming for trying to take you across fields as opposed to along roads…
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