Discover the Real Casper: Local Secrets and Hidden Gems! Are you tired of the same old tourist spots? Ready to experience Casper like a true local? Hi, I’m Alisha Collins from the Alisha Collins Real Estate Team, and I’m here to spill the beans on Casper’s best-kept secrets! Get ready for a journey through the activities you can’t miss, the shops you need to explore, and the mouthwatering places to satisfy your cravings. 🏞️ Let’s kick things off with some must-visit places. Casper locals flock to Rotary Park for hiking and the breathtaking Garden Creek waterfall. Known simply as “The Falls,” it’s a favorite spot for an easy hike. Looking for a challenge? The Bridle Trail in Rotary Park offers a different perspective, with a 5-mile trek showcasing Casper’s beauty, Split Rock, and more. Short on time? There’s a smaller loop on the west side of the park. 🚣♂️ If you’re a water enthusiast, the North Platte River offers kayaking and lazy tubing rides. You’ll find numerous entry and exit points for custom water adventures. Pro tip: Start at Robertson Road Bridge and float down to Morad Park for a relaxing day. For some thrilling rapids, check out Amaco Park. Don’t forget your life jacket! 🌅 Alcova and Pathfinder reservoirs are a short drive away. Alcova, with its marina, restaurant, and boat rentals, is a family favorite. Despite a recent fire, it’s bound to bounce back even better. Sandy Beach is perfect for a fun day by the water. Little Sandy, the boat and jet ski beach, is where the locals gather on busy weekends. Pathfinder, with its sandy beaches and tranquility, offers a quieter boating experience. ⛳ Casper might not be known for golf, but we’ve got four courses! The Casper Municipal Golf Course (aka “The Muni”) offers stunning Casper Mountain views. Three Crowns Golf Club sits near the Platte River and was a former Amoco Oil Refinery site turned into a beautiful 18-hole course. 🏙️ Downtown Casper is the heart of the city, filled with history, coffee shops, and live music. David Street Station hosts free summer concerts. Downtown is also a treasure trove of local stores and activities. Don’t miss the Casper Art Walk on the first Thursday of the month, or the Summer Market for handmade goods, food trucks, and fun by the splash pad. 🍔 Last but not least, food! Casper boasts numerous local gems. Eggingtons and Sherri’s for breakfast. La Cocina, Tacos Mexico, or La Costa for Mexican cuisine. Bosco’s for Italian. Silver Fox for steak. And if you’re into breweries, Casper has nine to explore. Don’t forget to check out Backwards Distillery’s unique cocktails if you’re not a beer fan. Casper has so much to offer, and I’ve only scratched the surface. If you’re considering becoming a local Casperite, give my team a call. We’ll help you find the perfect home in the best local neighborhoods because we love where we live, and we want you to love it too! 🏠💙
Wyoming may be a top tourist destination for many. and Casper may very well be on that list, but if you wanna experience Casper as a local, let me be your guide. Hi, I’m Alisha Collins with the Alisha Collins Real Estate team. I think there are many videos about what to do in Casper if you’re visiting, but what do the locals think? I’m going to share some local secrets with you, the activities you must do, shops you must see, and the best places to eat.
Let’s start with the places to visit. Nearly every local goes hiking at Rotary Park and enjoys our local waterfall at Garden Creek. The falls are a place that you should definitely visit if you are in town for a visit. Locally known simply as the falls, we never get tired of making a fairly easy hike up. If you are looking for a more challenging hike, another local favorite is the Bridle Trail. The trail head also starts in Rotary Park and will offer a different view of the falls if you hike above it. The full Bridle Trail is about five miles, and along the way, you will walk, enjoy stunning views of Casper, pass through Split Rock, cross Garden Creek and see an old rusted out car that came crashing down the mountain long ago. If you don’t have time for the full five miles, there’s a similar loop to consider on the west side of the park.
If water activities are more your thing, there are several fairly calm stretches of the North Platte River that provide easily paddling on a kayak, but many locals love to float lazily on a tube down the river. There are several places along the river to enter and exit, allowing you to choose how long you want your water adventure to be, taking as little as an hour or some lasting several. It all depends on where you choose to start and end. One of the easiest places to access the river is to start at Robertson Road Bridge and ride all the way down to Morad Park. Both areas have parking and are easy to enter and exit to the river. This stretch doesn’t really have rapids, so if you’re looking for a bit more adventure, check out the white water rapids that are a little closer to town at Amoco Park. Floating down the river is a must do while visiting Casper in the summer months. Whether you choose to kayak or tube, don’t forget your life jacket.
We also love our nearby reservoirs. Both Alcova and Pathfinder are just a short drive from Casper. My family loves Alcova because not only is it beautiful, but it also has all the amenities. Sadly, the marina caught fire on July 4th this year and was destroyed. I would bet money that they will rebuild and be bigger and better by next summer, hopefully, anyways. The weekends tend to get a bit busy at Alcova, especially around Sandy Beach, because you don’t have to have a boat to enjoy this part of Alcova. You can simply drive up, park and walk down to the water. I love that we have a public beach at this reservoir where we can have fun in the sand and the sun and swim. Just a little further over is a beach for boats and jet skis we call Little Sandy. Full of loud music and lots of people, Little Sandy is where you find lots of locals meeting up and hanging out. On the busier weekends, this stretch is full of boats beached right next to each other and chatting. Pathfinder has a marina, too, but it’s on a bit smaller scale. The reservoir itself is larger, with more to explore, including several sandy beaches of its own, usually a little more chill than the ones at Alcova. If you are looking for a bit more of a quiet boating experience, Pathfinder might be for you. Storms can kick up while you are on either reservoir, but they seem to come on quickly and be a bit more impactful at Pathfinder, kicking up pretty large waves at times. Both reservoirs offer some amazing campsites. Some are first come, first serve, while others are reservation only, so you will want to look into that if you’re planning on staying a night or two.
To keep our outdoor activity theme going, you may not think of Casper as a golfing destination, but the secret is, is we have four different golf courses. Okay, so two are clubs and two are public. The two clubs offer challenging courses, and I’m sure if you are a local, you can find a member to take you for a round. Or you can check out a local favorite, the Casper Municipal Golf Course, AKA the Muni. It is a 27-hole course with beautiful views of Casper Mountain. You can also check out Three Crowns Golf Club located in the center of the city. This 18-hole course sits near the Platte River and was a remediation project that transformed the former sites of the Amoco Oil refinery.
Speaking of the center of town, downtown Casper is full of activities and stores loved by the locals. The heart of our city, downtown Casper, has historic buildings, coffee shops galore and live music. David Stree Station has concerts throughout the summer that are usually free and open to the public. If you take some time and walk through downtown on the weekends, you can almost always find live music somewhere to enjoy at one of the breweries or coffee shops.
Tourists love Lou Taubert Ranch Outfitters, with its nine floors of inventory, 10,000 in-stock cowboy boots, and 100 years of history in one building.
I recommend heading to downtown Casper the first Thursday of the month through the summers for the Casper Art Walk. You’ll find artwork, live music, food, drinks, and sometimes hands-on activities for all ages. Summer also brings the summer market several Tuesdays throughout the summer. Vendors with homemade or homegrown goods, food trucks, games, all right next to the splash pad means it’s a great time for all ages. A day in downtown Casper for a local might start at Metro Coffee Company for a cup of coffee, one of my favorites. Head over to Eggingtons for a hearty breakfast and fresh squeezed orange juice, then walk the meal off by heading over to Windy City Books to cruise the shelves. I might do some more shopping, where you can find everything from a fun toy store called Toy Town to Herbal Remedies, a health store. Then it’s time to see what’s happening at David Stree Station. It could be a live concert, farmer’s market or an outdoor movie.
I have had the hardest time choosing my favorite local restaurant. Casper really does have so much to offer. Locally owned and operated is a way to go when it comes to finding an excellent meal. If you’re unsure and leaning towards a chain, don’t. Go to a local restaurant. You might find others think their choices are best, but stay right here with me while I share some of the top local choices for food in Casper. For breakfast, you’ve heard me say it before, Eggingtons. Yes, it’s good enough to mention twice. Sherrie’s is a long-time local favorite. You can find breakfast or lunch choices there as well. You might not think so, but Casper has several good choices for Mexican cuisine. La Casita is one of my very favorites, but you can also check out Tacos Mexico or La Costa. Craving Italian? Bosco’s is the place to go, little and local with a lot of flavor. When in Wyoming, you might think you need to check out a steakhouse. In that case, don’t miss out on Silver Fox on the west side of town. Be sure to order the bacon knots for your appetizer. You will not be disappointed. If breweries are your thing, you can find several to try in Casper, nine at last count. Many have live music and food trucks on a regular basis. I love Mount Hops on Beverly. I also like the ones that are in the downtown Casper. If beer isn’t your thing, check out Backwards Distillery’s tasting room in downtown Casper. Our local distillery creates unique cocktails in a quirky environment.
Casper has a lot of things to offer if you know where to look. I hope this local peek has piqued your interest in becoming a local Casperite. If so, give my team a call. We’d love to guide you throughout Casper and help you find a great neighborhood that you will love. We have time for you, and we love talking to you. Remember, we want you to love where you live. See you soon.