FRIDAY, October, 2026|
Photo – Fossil Cabin on US 30 was once a tourist location for travelers before I-80 was built – Bigfoot99 file photo
The Carbon County Visitors Council is working to have the Lincoln Highway designated as a statewide scenic byway.
Built in 1913, the Lincoln Highway was the first transcontinental automobile route in the United States, originally stretching nearly 3,390 miles through 13 states, including Wyoming. In 1926, the American Association of State Highway Officials renamed Lincoln Highway to U.S. Route 30.
For roughly 50 years, the road brought steady traffic that sustained towns and businesses along its length, but the arrival of Interstate 80 moved travelers onto the high‑speed corridor that bypassed many of those communities.
Now, Laramie, Albany, Sweetwater, Uinta, and Carbon Counties have teamed up to recognize the importance of Wyoming’s stretch of the Lincoln Highway. Carbon County Visitors Council, also known as Discover Carbon County, Chief Operating Officer Leslie Jefferson explained that the idea for the project came when she and Alliance for Historic Wyoming Executive Director Megan Stanfill worked to relocate the historic Fossil Cabin from Como Bluffs to the Medicine Bow Museum. During that time, Jefferson said the two wondered why Route 66, which played an arguably less important role in the nation’s transportation history, was celebrated instead of the Lincoln Highway during the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Carbon County already contains two state scenic byways, the Snowy Range and Battle Pass. Discover Carbon County Sales and Tourism Development Manager Megan McComas is leading the effort to add the Lincoln Highway to that list. She reached out to seven of the state’s tourism and historical boards, all of which agreed to fund the project. McComas said that after receiving the go‑ahead, she contacted Wanda Maloney, founder of Corridor Solutions, a consultancy firm focused on scenic byways, to develop a Corridor Management Plan for the Lincoln Highway.
As part of developing the Corridor Management Plan, Discover Carbon County will meet with stakeholders along the Lincoln Highway and gather input from visitors and residents through a survey. McComas said once the CMP is finished, it will be submitted to the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s Scenic Byways and Backways Program for final approval.
McComas said a scenic byway designation will draw motorists off Interstate 80 and into Medicine Bow and Hanna, boosting tourism in northern Carbon County.
McComas added that the Lincoln Highway is well known among transportation enthusiasts, and she said the designation will bring more of them to Wyoming.
McComas is asking residents and local business owners to submit letters of support to designate the Lincoln Highway as a state scenic byway to sales@wyomingcarboncounty.com. If approved, Wyoming will join six other states in formally recognizing the highway’s historical importance.
