Vedauwoo

Vedauwoo is an area of distinctive rocky outcrops in southeastern Wyoming, its name a romanized version of the Arapaho word "bito'o'wu," meaning earth-born. It lies between Laramie and Cheyenne just north of Interstate 80, within the Pole Mountain Recreation Area of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. The formations are Sherman Granite, about 1.4 billion years old and among Wyoming's oldest exposed rock, built from large crystals of quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase and some mica. The granite was exposed as the Laramie Mountains rose beginning around 70 million years ago, with younger overlying rock layers gradually eroding away to reveal the harder granite beneath, which wind and water further sculpted into hoodoos. Vedauwoo has become a well known technical climbing destination, particularly for offwidth crack climbing, and its granite outcrops also support elk, mule deer, mountain lions and a range of bird species. This entity documents Vedauwoo specifically as a geological formation, an outcrop of 1.4-billion-year-old granite exposed by the uplift of the Laramie Mountains.