Glendo State Park

	Glendo State Park IUCN Category V - Protected Landscape / Seascape
	Glendo State Park from the North Platte River (2004)
location	Platte County in Wyoming (USA)
surface	40 km²
Geographical location	42 ° 33 ' N , 105 ° 0' W Coordinates: 42 ° 33 '25 " N , 104 ° 59' 45" W.
Setup date	1959
administration	Wyoming Division of State Parks and Historic Sites

Glendo State Park and North Platte River, looking towards Interstate 25

Glendo Reservoir from the Glendo Dam

The Glendo State Park is located near the village of Glendo , about 25 kilometers southeast of the city of Douglas in Platte County in southeast Wyoming at 1,528 meters above sea level. The North Platte River , which has formed its way through a sandstone formation with narrow gorges in the northwest of the park , is dammed in the south of the park by the Glendo Dam and forms the Glendo Reservoir there . The park can be easily reached from Interstate 25 .

history

In the 18th century, the Arapaho and Cheyenne came to southwest Wyoming in the North Platte River Basin . The Oglala - and Brulé - Sioux migrated around 1830 from South Dakota to the region. The rings of the tipis can still be found in the park and its surroundings, but many traces of the Indians have now been flooded by the dammed water of the reservoir.

Before the dam was built, the fertile land of the valley basin was used for agriculture by the first farmers, who among other things grew potatoes here.

Glendo Reservoir

The Glendo State Park offers a recreational area on the reservoir. You can go fishing, sailing, motor boating, water skiing and other water sports there. Numerous fish, some of them record sizes, were caught in the reservoir. Perch , American pikeperch and catfish live in the reservoir, while trout and catfish can be found in the upper river . On the west side of the reservoir there are extensive sandy beaches with dunes and many bathing facilities, which can also be easily reached by car.

Glendo Dam

The Glendo Dam was built between 1954 and 1958 and is 639 meters long and 58 meters high. With two Francis turbines , up to 38 megawatts of electricity can be generated in the nearby hydropower plant from a maximum flow of 370 m ³ per second .

Tourist use

The park is equipped with paved paths, picnic areas with tables and barbecues and public toilets. There are seven campsites with around 420 spaces and six ramps for boats. Camping in tents is permitted on the two-kilometer-long sandy beach. A small marina and a hotel complete the offer. There is a fee to enter the park.