Craig

Craig and Moffat County in Colorado are literally where the Old West has stayed young. 

The past can be found throughout the county in famous outlaw hideouts, Native American petroglyphs, homesteads, faint trails and weathered corrals — all giving visitors the opportunity to actually touch the living past of the frontier days of the Wild West.

Discover thousands of ancient rock writings in the deep canyons and open bluffs across the region, including petroglyphs and pictographs left by the Fremont culture.

A visit to Moffat County wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Museum of Northwest Colorado in downtown Craig. In addition to one of the country’s largest collections of cowboy and gunfighter memorabilia on public display, the museum tells the fascinating history of northwest Colorado and hosts an impressive roster of traveling exhibits.

Just east of Craig is the Wyman Living History Museum, where the Wyman family has gathered a unique collection from throughout the West and beyond, providing visitors an experience spanning 100 years of American life, ingenuity and advancement. The collection includes everything from Western heritage memorabilia and rare forms of transportation to a World War II M47 tank.

A popular mountain biking area, the surrounding Yampa Valley and its 85-mile namesake trail offers fat-tire riding through Craig and all the way into Dinosaur National Monument in the far northwest corner of the state. Access to four-wheeling, fishing, rafting and hiking also abounds. Home to elk, deer, antelope, mountain lions and golden as well as bald eagles, the Yampa Valley is a photographer's paradise and is also popular with big-game hunters.

Craig's charm is augmented by the fact that it's merely 15 miles from Routt National Forest and is surrounded by quiet Bureau of Land Management land. Elkhead Reservoir, 9 miles northeast of town, is a popular swimming, water skiing and boating area during the summer months, and Yampa River State Park — only 14 miles away — offers fishing, boating and camping. Just 45 miles west of Craig, spot one of the few remaining herds of wild mustangs in the Sand Wash Basin, also prime off-highway-vehicle territory. For a tried-and-true wild horse viewing spot, drive along the Wild Horse Loop on Sevenmile Ridge just north of the town of Maybell, just 30 miles west of Craig on Hwy. 40.