Laramie River

The Laramie River is a significant tributary of the North Platte River, stretching approximately 450 kilometers through the U.S. states of Colorado and Wyoming. It originates north of the 2,791-meter-high Chambers Lake in the Roosevelt National Forest in northern Colorado. From there, it flows initially north-northwest through the eastern foothills of the Medicine Bow Mountains into Wyoming. The river then turns northeast, traversing the expansive Laramie Plains and the city of Laramie, named after it. It passes the Wheatland Reservoir and cuts through the southern Laramie Mountains, forming a canyon west of Wheatland. Along its course, it receives important tributaries such as the North Laramie River and Chugwater Creek before flowing through the Grayrocks Reservoir. Finally, the Laramie River joins the North Platte River from the right at Fort Laramie, at an elevation of 1,284 meters, where the North Platte flows southeast. The river’s drainage basin covers about 11,821 square kilometers, encompassing Larimer, Albany, Platte, and Goshen Counties. The average discharge at its mouth is approximately 3.7 cubic meters per second, with peak flows occurring in May and June. The Laramie River is part of the larger Platte River watershed, which drains into the Gulf of Mexico via the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. The river is named after the French-Canadian fur trader Jacques La Ramee, who lived in the region in the 1820s and whose body was found near its confluence with the North Platte River. The Laramie River is not only scenically beautiful but also offers opportunities for fishing, particularly for trout, and is surrounded by diverse landscapes ranging from forests to prairies.