With a fascinating history, Boysen State Park is named after Asmus Boysen, who constructed the original dam and power plant on the site back in 1908. You can still see remnants of the original dam near the Lower Wind River Campground. Visitors can not only check out part of the original dam but also marvel at the impressive 216-foot-tall rolled-earth and rock-fill dam currently on the Wind River in central Wyoming.
Today, Boysen State Park is a massive 35,000-acre recreational area in Wyoming, situated in Fremont County, just south of Thermopolis and the Wind River Canyon. This state park spans over 35,000 acres at the southern end of the Owl Creek Mountains, right at the entrance of the Wind River Canyon. It's centered around the 19,560-acre Boysen Reservoir, which boasts 76 miles of shoreline, making it a fantastic spot for boating, fishing, swimming, and camping. There are 13 campgrounds scattered around the Wind River and the Boysen Reservoir, with several boat ramps (Brannon, Tough Creek, Fremont, Cottonwood Bay) along with a designated swimming beach. The park also features unique rustic lodging options and a privately operated marina.
Anglers can find game fish like walleye, sauger, perch, crappie, ling, rainbow, cutthroat, and brown trout in the reservoir. It's well-known for year-round fishing, including ice fishing, and has produced state-record catches of walleye, trout, and perch.
Exciting New Improvements Coming to Boysen State Park!
Boysen State Park is planning campground improvements at Tough Creek and Cottonwood Campgrounds to provide for changes identified in the Master Plan and to develop improved campsites to utilize during high water events. We want to hear from you! Even though our Master Plan process had a ton of public involvement, we wanted to engage with the public again during our implementation phase.
The Wind River Range continues to experience high snowpack, resulting in high runoff and causing the banks of Boysen to flood at certain times of the year. This trend, along with public comments, has resulted in these proposed improvements.
The campsites developed at Tough Creek will include pull-thru campsites, back-in double campsites, group campsites, and tent campsites, various water and beach access points as well as a new vault toilet above the flood line.
Improved group campsites above the flood zone will also be developed at Cottonwood Campground to provide for times when the beach camping is under water.
The first white men through the Wind River Canyon were the Ashley Fur Party in 1825. The original dam was built by Asmus Boysen in 1908, for whom the park and reservoir are named. Part of the original dam can still be seen adjacent to the tunnels on the Lower Wind River Campground. Mr. Boysen also built a 710kW power plant at the site. Operations ceased when in 1923 a major flood filled the plant with silt.
The CB&O Railroad went through the canyon in 1911 and the state highway went through in 1925. The existing dam was completed in 1951. Boysen became a state park in 1956.
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