Albany County CattleWomen to host free ranch tour in Laramie

Albany County CattleWomen will take Laramie residents from the south end of the Wyoming Territorial Prison Historic Site to working ranches on Saturday, July 18, giving the public a free look at how local beef is produced, how land is managed, and what it costs to keep a ranch operating. The tour will include an informative guide, with buses available for $45 per person and box lunches offered for $15 each.

Attendees are asked to arrive at 8 a.m. for light refreshments and tour information before the group departs promptly at 9 a.m. Reservations and payment must be completed by Wednesday, July 8, through the Eppson Center for Seniors in Laramie. Jenelle Gaddis is listed as the contact for additional information, and she can be reached at 307-742-0288.

The event is shaping up as more than a social outing. In Albany County, where Laramie serves as the population center and university town, ranching still shapes the landscape and the local economy outside the city limits. A day on the tour will put residents and consumers in front of the land-use decisions, water demands, livestock work and stewardship questions that sit behind the county’s beef supply and often surface in local government meetings and community conversations.

The Albany County Historical Society says the CattleWomen publish informative ranch histories in brochures that accompany their yearly ranch tours, adding a historical layer to the day’s stops. The society’s archive also shows prior numbered tours in 2024 and 2025, underscoring that the July 18 outing is part of a long-running annual tradition rather than a one-time event.

For county residents, the tour offers a direct look at the people and places behind the food economy that reaches Laramie tables and grocery stores. It also gives producers a public setting to explain the realities of ranch production, from land management to the costs of running an operation in southeastern Wyoming.