A scenic designation celebration

Platte Valley residents gathered for a party atop Highway 70

Friday, celebrating the highway’s designation as a scenic byway and 2013’s first day of summer.

John Farr, organizer of the event, said he was quite pleased with the turnout at the celebration, which took place at a parking lot along Highway 70, also known as the Battle Pass Scenic Byway, at the highest point between Encampment and Baggs. Attendees were treated to a barbecue beef dinner and surrounding natural mountain and forest scenery.

“We started this 19 years ago, and to finally get the designation is what we were celebrating,” Farr said. “They rebuilt this road 19 years ago. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but you’ve got to celebrate the things as they come up. It was supposed to be a scenic byway earlier and the turnouts were put in and most of the signs were put up, but they just never finished the paperwork.”

Farr said Baggs residents are most likely appreciative of the highway, which gives them a shorter distance to drive when headed eastward during the summertime. Like Highway 130 en route to Laramie, Highway 70 is closed, or a “snowmobile road,” Farr said, during the wintertime.

“The Baggs people are probably more interested in this highway than anybody because they get tired of driving clear north, or going down to Craig all the time and going east,” he said. “They love coming over this road, and it’s a pretty road and fast outlet. They can get from here to Laramie or wherever they’re going, and it’s just a nice change of pace for them.”