Hell’s Half Acre: Hell’s Half Acre is an area in Natrona County, Wyo., about 40 miles west of Casper. The unique and barren landscape offers visitors a chance to view the works of nature over millions of years. The red, white, and amber stripes in the formations reveal various layers of soil and rocks in the area. By Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Barren Land: Most of the landscape at Hell’s Half Acre is barren soil and rock formations. Grasses and some vegetation dot the sparse landscape, but the geological formations are the point of interest when viewing the area. By Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
Wind swept rolling hills and grasslands make up much of the landscape in central and eastern Wyoming. Harsh winters give way to grassy green landscapes in this part of the state when the weather warms.
However, about 40 miles west of Casper, Wyo., on highway 20/26 a relatively small portion of this part of the state falls away to an otherworldly landscape known as Hell’s Half Acre. The name is misleading because the area is actually 960 acres, with 320 acres of the property opening up and revealing some beautiful, but rugged, badlands. The site has also been referred to as the Devil’s Kitchen.
Hell’s Half Acre is made up of ravines, caves, hoodoos, pinnacles and other geological formations. The area was formerly a river which dried up years ago leaving a dry and barren landscape. The wind and water and other forces of nature have created the erosion process which has created this geological oddity in the middle of Wyoming.
Hell’s Half Acre was once a popular attraction in mid-Wyoming until 2005. There was even a small motel and a restaurant on the premises. However, the caretakers decided to move on and no replacements were found by the county so the area was closed and fenced off.
The area had been closed for years until a couple of years ago, when a movement to reopen the area to visitors got underway. The Visit Casper organization and the Natrona County Parks Department began an effort to reopen Hell’s Half Acre, along with assistance from Casper College Geology Department, local historians have reopened Hell’s Half Acre.
The ribbon cutting officially reopening the park took place this month. Visitors can enjoy the area again from a newly constructed viewing deck and boardwalks and learn about the site with the new interpretive signage at the park. Picnic tables have been added and are now in place. The parking lot has also seen improvements.
We visited Hell’s Half Acre three years ago when traveling from Colorado to Montana. There was no indication of the park reopening so we enjoyed viewing and photographing the site from the perimeter as best we could before resuming our travels. After reading about the reopening of Hell’s Half Acre, we must visit the area again and enjoy some up close and better views of this uniquely beautiful area. It is truly an alien landscape that looks totally out of place in the middle of Wyoming.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Erosion: Erosion of the landscape at Hell’s Half Acre continues today with the winds that are present most of the time, along with rain, which also causes the landscape to erode over time. Seen in this photo is a portion of the area that shows much erosion, but also still has some grasses and vegetation. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Layers: This view of Hell’s Half Acre reveals how barren the landscape is over most of the area. It also shows some of the formations that are a result of millions of years of erosion. The badlands area is 320 acres and is about 150 feet deep, and allows visitors to view the various colors of the unique geological features seen in the canyon. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com