The Laramie River is a tributary of the

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...

, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed March 21, 2011 in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

s of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

. The river was named for Jacques La Ramie, a fur trapper who visited the area in the early 19th century.

Laramie County, Wyoming Laramie County is a county located at the southeast corner of the state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 100,512 or 17.4% of the state's total 2020 population, making it the most populous county in Wyoming, b ...

, the city of Laramie, and other geographical entities in the region have "Laramie" in their names.

Course

The river rises in northern Colorado, in the Roosevelt National Forest in the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered ...

, in western Larimer County. It flows north-northwest into Wyoming, along the east side of the Medicine Bow Mountains, past Jelm and Woods Landing, then northeast emerging from the mountains southwest of Laramie. The river then flows north through Laramie. In the Laramie Plains it is joined by the Little Laramie River. The Laramie River then continues north through the Laramie Plains and through Wheatland Reservoir. It flows northeast through the Laramie Mountains. Emerging from the mountains, it receives the North Laramie River north of Wheatland and Chugwater Creek 7 mi (11 km) northeast of Wheatland. It joins the North Platte opposite the town

Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...

. In its upper reaches in Colorado, the river supplies water to the

Cache La Poudre River The Cache la Poudre River ( ), also known as the Poudre River, is a river in the state of Colorado in the United States. Name The name of the river () is a corruption of the original Cache à la Poudre, or "cache of powder". It refers to an ...

via the Laramie–Poudre Tunnel. The tunnel, which is approximately long, was finished in 1911 as part of a larger

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

project for northern Colorado.

Discharge

References

External links

* {{authority control Rivers of Colorado Rivers of Wyoming Rivers of Larimer County, Colorado Tributaries of the Platte River Rivers of Albany County, Wyoming Rivers of Platte County, Wyoming Rivers of Goshen County, Wyoming Tributaries of the North Platte River

Course

Discharge

See also

References

External links