If You Use the Trails, Then This is For You

​The trails are an outlet for adventure; to get closer to nature, to exercise outdoors, to spend time with our dogs, and so much more. Simply put, trails greatly improve our community's livability. Platte River Trails can continue trail expansion across Natrona County thanks in large part to your donations, especially during our Annual Giving Campaign. Every $100 gift helps advance another 10 square feet of trail. With your donation, combined with that of many others in our community, we can turn those feet into miles of trail expansion. If you use the trails, then help us build and protect them.

​How does your donation help? As a nonprofit, Platte River Trails relies on support from community members like you to help us continue trail expansion and maintenance throughout Casper and beyond. We truly couldn't do it without widespread community support. Trails are a valuable asset to Casper and our quality of life, providing a means to outdoor recreation and non-motorized transportation across our community. Let’s run through a few scenarios:

1. If you’ve ever taken your dogs to Morad Park, then your dollars can help improve your and your dog’s experience there.
2. If you’ve ever used the trails to get to work, then your dollars can help improve accessibility to safe and separate non-motorized transportation throughout Casper.
3. If you’ve ever used the trails to get closer to nature, then your dollars can help protect our beloved river, its nearby inhabitants, and outdoor spaces.
4. If you’ve used the trails for exercise and recreation, then your dollars can help us add mileage and increase maintenance efforts for safe use.

Your dollars, quite literally, build trails. Right now, we’re making exciting progress on two major trail projects: the Casper Rail Trail Extension to Edness Kimball Wilkins State Park and the Paradise Valley to Robertson Road Footbridge. Before you join our effort to complete these projects, allow us to share more so you know where your dollars could be used:
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Casper Rail Trail Extension to EKW State Park: This project is 50% complete and extends the existing 6-mile Casper Rail Trail further east from Hat Six Road toward EKW State Park, creating nearly nine miles of trail originating on Midwest Ave. in downtown Casper. This project was the subject of a 2021 MPO study with multiple stakeholders, tremendous community feedback, and overwhelmingly positive sentiment and community support. Thanks to a Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Collaborative Grant, we have funding for the soft surface pathway portion, which will be completed this year, but we need your support to help us get the rest of the way there! You could help make a pedestrian overpass or underpass into the park a reality.

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​​Paradise Valley to Robertson Road Footbridge: Together with the City of Casper, Platte River Trails is developing an essential connection on Casper's west side that will create a safe-to-school route. Phase I, which added over 1,600 linear feet of pathway, is already complete! Phase II, the footbridge itself, is almost completely funded by a WYDOT TAP grant, One Cent funds, and donations from PRTT supporters. At 75% completion, this project’s finishing touch is the footbridge that will span the North Platte River, connecting the two sides. Construction has already begun with an estimated completion in spring 2026. A proposed Phase III would add bike lanes from Paradise Valley Park along Riverside and Indian Paintbrush to the bridge. Cost increases following the original estimates mean PRTT will be allocating more funding to the project than originally planned, pulling from other future projects – this is where your support is greatly needed!
 
You are a part of the trails because together we build them, use them, and protect them. When you give to the trails, you help us reveal more miles to experience life outside. If you use the trails or support what they bring to our community, then we kindly ask you to consider giving to them. Join our Annual Giving Campaign by making your gift here. 

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