There are places in the world that feel like they were made to humble you, to remind you that the earth is ancient and vast and indifferent to human ambition. Wyoming is one of those places. The tenth largest state in the United States by area, yet the least populated of all fifty states, Wyoming is a land of almost incomprehensible scale and grandeur. Here, mountain ranges rise abruptly from sweeping high plains, geysers blast boiling water a hundred feet into the air, rivers run cold and clear through canyon walls that took millions of years to carve, and vast herds of bison still roam landscapes that look much as they did when the first European explorers arrived, wide-eyed and speechless, centuries ago.
Wyoming is a state of extremes. It holds the nation’s first national park, the world’s most famous geyser, some of the most dramatic mountain scenery on the continent, the windiest city in the lower 48, temperatures that swing from scorching summer days to brutal winter cold, and a human population density so low that entire counties have fewer residents than a single city block in Manhattan. It is a state that takes its identity from the land itself, from ranching and rodeo, from open skies and unbroken horizons, from a culture of self-reliance that is not a pose but a genuine necessity shaped by geography and climate.
For the traveler, Wyoming offers experiences that simply cannot be replicated anywhere else. Whether you come to stand on the rim of a geothermal basin watching the earth exhale steam into a cold morning sky, to hike through wildflower meadows beneath the jagged granite spires of the Tetons, to watch a cowboy work a herd of cattle on a guest ranch, or to lie on your back in a sagebrush field far from any light pollution and stare up at the most star-filled sky you have ever seen, Wyoming has a way of changing your sense of what is possible in the natural world.
A BRIEF HISTORY
The land that is now Wyoming was home to Indigenous peoples for at least 13,000 years before European Americans arrived. Dozens of tribes lived in or moved through the region over millennia, including the Shoshone, Crow, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Bannock, Sioux, and others. The Eastern Shoshone, led by the legendary Sacagawea and her people, had a particularly deep and enduring relationship with the Wind River area. Today the Wind River Indian Reservation, home to both the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes, remains a living and vital community in central Wyoming.
European American exploration of the region began in earnest in the early 19th century. John Colter, a fur trapper who had traveled west with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, is believed to have been the first non-Native American to see the geothermal wonders of what is now Yellowstone National Park, sometime around 1807 and 1808. His reports of boiling springs, steam vents, and exploding geysers were so fantastical that people back east dismissed them as tall tales, nicknaming the area “Colter’s Hell.”
The fur trade brought mountain men into Wyoming in increasing numbers through the 1820s and 1830s. The annual Rendezvous, a gathering of trappers, traders, and Native Americans held each summer at sites like the Green River Valley, was one of the most colorful and remarkable events in the history of the American West. By the 1840s, the fur trade was declining as beaver hats went out of fashion in Europe, but Wyoming was already finding its next identity as a corridor for westward migration.
The Oregon Trail, one of the most important overland routes in American history, passed directly through Wyoming. Between 1840 and 1869, an estimated 400,000 emigrants traveled the trail on their way to Oregon, California, and Utah, passing through landmarks like Fort Laramie, Independence Rock, South Pass, and Fort Bridger, all of which remain important historic sites today. The trail brought settlers, conflict with Native nations, and eventually the infrastructure of permanent settlement.
The transcontinental railroad arrived in Wyoming in 1867 and 1868, bringing with it the instant cities of Cheyenne, Laramie, and others that sprang up overnight along the tracks. Wyoming Territory was organized in 1869, and in a remarkable act that was decades ahead of its time, the territorial legislature granted women the right to vote that same year, the first government in American history to do so. Wyoming earned the nickname “the Equality State,” and when Wyoming was admitted to the Union as the 44th state in 1890, women’s suffrage remained in its constitution.
The cattle industry dominated Wyoming’s economy and culture in the latter half of the 19th century, as vast ranches spread across the high plains and cattle drives moved enormous herds to the railroad. The conflicts between large cattle barons and smaller ranchers and homesteaders came to a head in the infamous Johnson County War of 1892, a dark chapter in which powerful cattlemen hired armed gunmen to intimidate and kill their rivals, an event that has become one of the defining stories of the American West.
Wyoming’s landscape was shaped into protected lands earlier than almost anywhere else. Yellowstone was established as the world’s first national park in 1872. Grand Teton National Park followed in 1929. The state’s ranching, mining, and energy industries have always coexisted in tension with its extraordinary natural heritage, a tension that continues to define Wyoming’s politics and culture today.
GEOGRAPHY AND LANDSCAPE
Wyoming’s geography is staggering in its diversity and drama. The state covers 97,813 square miles, making it larger than the United Kingdom, yet it holds fewer than 600,000 people. It sits on the high country of the American West, with an average elevation of about 6,700 feet above sea level, the second highest average elevation of any state after Colorado.
The Rocky Mountains dominate the western portion of the state. The Wind River Range, running diagonally from the northwest to the southeast through central Wyoming, is arguably the most spectacular and remote mountain range in the contiguous United States. It includes Gannett Peak, Wyoming’s highest point at 13,809 feet, and is home to some of the largest glaciers in the lower 48 states. The Winds, as they are known locally, attract serious climbers, backpackers, and wilderness travelers who want to experience mountains that have not been softened by roads and visitor centers.
The Teton Range, rising abruptly from the floor of Jackson Hole to the west of the Snake River, is one of the youngest and most dramatically vertical mountain ranges in North America. The peaks have no foothills to speak of; they simply explode from the valley floor in a wall of granite, with the Grand Teton reaching 13,775 feet. The visual impact of seeing the Tetons for the first time, whether from the highway north of Jackson or from the shore of Jenny Lake, is something that stays with a person.
The Absaroka Range, the Beartooth Range, the Gros Ventre Range, the Wyoming Range, the Salt River Range, and the Laramie Mountains are among the other significant ranges that give Wyoming’s topography its complexity and grandeur.
The Yellowstone Plateau, sitting in the northwestern corner of the state, is the caldera of one of the largest supervolcanoes on earth. The plateau sits atop a hotspot in the earth’s mantle that has powered volcanic eruptions of almost unimaginable magnitude over millions of years. Today it powers the geothermal spectacle of Yellowstone National Park, the largest hydrothermal system in the world.
East of the mountains, Wyoming opens into the high plains and basins: the Bighorn Basin, the Powder River Basin, the Green River Basin, the Laramie Basin, and the vast Wyoming Basin. These wide open spaces, covered in sagebrush, grasses, and in some areas dramatic badlands, have their own austere beauty. They are the territory of pronghorn antelope, the fastest land animal in the Western Hemisphere, which roam in herds that can still number in the thousands.
The Continental Divide crosses Wyoming diagonally, and the state’s rivers drain in two directions. The Snake and Green Rivers flow ultimately to the Pacific. The Yellowstone, the Bighorn, the Powder, and the North Platte flow ultimately to the Atlantic via the Gulf of Mexico.
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK
No honest account of Wyoming as a travel destination can begin anywhere but Yellowstone. Established in 1872, Yellowstone is not only the world’s first national park but arguably its most extraordinary. It encompasses 2.2 million acres of wilderness, more than half the world’s geothermal features, the largest high-elevation lake in North America, vast wildlife populations, ancient forests, dramatic canyons, and waterfalls of breathtaking power. It is, in the truest sense of that overused word, awe-inspiring.
The geothermal features are what make Yellowstone unlike anywhere else on earth. The park contains more than 10,000 hydrothermal features, including geysers, hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. Old Faithful, the park’s most iconic feature, erupts on a reasonably predictable schedule, typically every 60 to 110 minutes, sending a column of boiling water and steam between 100 and 185 feet into the air for several minutes at a time. It has been doing so for centuries and is one of the most watched natural events on earth.
But Old Faithful, remarkable as it is, is just the beginning. The Grand Prismatic Spring, the largest hot spring in the United States and the third largest in the world, is a staggering sight: a pool of brilliant blue water surrounded by rings of orange, yellow, and green caused by heat-loving microorganisms called thermophiles. Seen from above, it looks like something from another planet. The Norris Geyser Basin, the hottest and most dynamic thermal area in the park, changes frequently as underground plumbing shifts. The Mammoth Hot Springs area features travertine terraces of almost supernatural elegance, formed by hot water depositing dissolved limestone as it flows across the surface.
Yellowstone’s wildlife is legendary. The park supports one of the largest free-ranging bison herds in the world, with a population of roughly 5,000 animals that roam the valleys and meadows and occasionally bring traffic to a standstill as they cross roads in unhurried, majestic processions. The reintroduction of gray wolves to Yellowstone in 1995 was one of the most significant and successful wildlife conservation events in American history. Today the park’s wolf packs can sometimes be spotted, particularly in the Lamar Valley, which has earned the nickname “America’s Serengeti” for the concentrations of wildlife visible from the road. Grizzly bears, black bears, elk, moose, pronghorn, bighorn sheep, bald eagles, ospreys, and trumpeter swans are among the many other species that call the park home.
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is a revelation for visitors who arrive expecting primarily geothermal spectacle. The Yellowstone River plunges over two dramatic waterfalls, the Lower Falls dropping 308 feet, nearly twice the height of Niagara, into a canyon of yellow and orange rhyolite walls that stretch for 20 miles. The colors of the canyon walls, caused by hydrothermal alteration of the rock, are extraordinary.
Yellowstone can be accessed through five entrance gates: the North Entrance at Gardiner, Montana; the Northeast Entrance at Cooke City, Montana; the East Entrance from Cody, Wyoming; the South Entrance from Grand Teton National Park; and the West Entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana. The Grand Loop Road, a figure-eight highway running about 142 miles, connects the major attractions and can be driven in a day, though doing justice to the park requires several days at minimum, and many visitors find that a week is not enough.
Lodging within the park is operated by Xanterra, the park concessionaire, and ranges from the historic Old Faithful Inn, a masterpiece of rustic architecture built in 1903 and 1904 from lodgepole pine and rhyolite stone, to simple cabins and campgrounds. Old Faithful Inn is one of the great lodge buildings in the world, and staying there, watching eruptions from the porch, is an experience of a lifetime. Lodging within the park books up months in advance, particularly for summer visits.
Visitor numbers to Yellowstone have grown significantly in recent years, and summer crowds at the most popular features can be substantial. Arriving early in the morning, staying into the evening, and venturing beyond the roadside pull-outs onto the park’s 900 miles of trails are all effective strategies for finding the solitude and wildness that Yellowstone still abundantly offers to those willing to walk a little.
GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK
Just south of Yellowstone, sharing its border, Grand Teton National Park protects one of the most dramatic mountain landscapes in North America. The park covers about 310,000 acres and encompasses the Teton Range, the northern portion of Jackson Hole valley, the Snake River, and a series of glacially carved lakes at the base of the mountains, including Jenny Lake, String Lake, and Jackson Lake.
The view of the Teton Range from the valley floor is one of those images so often reproduced on calendars and magazines that visitors sometimes wonder if they can possibly live up to the photographs. They do. Standing at the edge of Jenny Lake or at one of the classic viewpoints along the Teton Park Road and looking up at the jagged wall of peaks rising 7,000 feet above the valley floor is one of the most powerful visual experiences that American landscape has to offer.
The hiking in Grand Teton National Park is superb. The Cascade Canyon Trail from Jenny Lake up into the high country is one of the most beautiful hikes in the American West, offering close views of the peaks, wildflower meadows, cascading streams, and excellent wildlife watching. The Paintbrush Canyon to Cascade Canyon loop is a classic multi-day backpacking route. The summit of the Grand Teton itself, the park’s highest peak at 13,775 feet, is a serious mountaineering objective that requires technical skills and equipment, but guided climbs are available for experienced hikers who want to attempt it.
The Snake River, which flows through the heart of the park, offers excellent whitewater rafting and calmer scenic float trips that provide wonderful wildlife watching from the water. Bald eagles, ospreys, great blue herons, moose wading in the willows along the banks, and occasionally bears and wolves are among the wildlife seen on river trips.
The town of Jackson, just south of the park entrance, serves as the primary hub for visitors to Grand Teton and is also a major destination in its own right, described in more detail in the towns and cities section below.
OTHER NATURAL WONDERS AND PUBLIC LANDS
Wyoming’s extraordinary natural heritage extends far beyond its two national parks.
Fossil Butte National Monument in the southwestern corner of the state protects one of the richest deposits of freshwater fish fossils in the world. About 50 million years ago, the area was covered by a large subtropical lake, and the sediments preserved an extraordinary record of Eocene-era life, including fish, insects, plants, turtles, crocodilians, and early horses. The monument is a quieter and less visited gem that offers a fascinating window into deep geological time.
Devils Tower National Monument in the northeastern corner of Wyoming is one of the most striking geological formations in the United States. Rising 1,267 feet above the surrounding terrain, this massive column of igneous rock, formed by the slow cooling of magma beneath the earth’s surface and then exposed by millions of years of erosion, has vertical columns of hexagonal geometry that are both geologically fascinating and visually astonishing. It is sacred to many Native American tribes. Rock climbing on Devils Tower is popular and challenging, and the surrounding landscape of the Black Hills foothills is beautiful.
The Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area on the Wyoming-Montana border features a dramatic 71-mile-long canyon carved by the Bighorn River, with walls rising up to 1,000 feet. Boating, fishing, hiking, and wildlife watching are the primary activities.
The Wind River Range, mentioned in the geography section, deserves special emphasis as a wilderness travel destination. The Bridger Wilderness and the Popo Agie Wilderness within the range offer some of the finest backcountry hiking and fishing in the country. The Cirque of the Towers in the southern Wind Rivers, a horseshoe of dramatic granite spires surrounding a pristine alpine lake, is one of those places that once seen becomes a kind of benchmark against which all other wilderness is measured.
The Snowy Range, in the Medicine Bow Mountains west of Laramie, is a more accessible but still spectacular mountain destination, with a scenic byway crossing Medicine Bow Peak and numerous lakes, trails, and campgrounds.
Wyoming’s state parks include Guernsey State Park, whose Depression-era CCC-built stone structures are a delight, and Sinks Canyon State Park near Lander, where the Popo Agie River dramatically disappears underground into a cave and reappears downstream in a rise pool full of enormous trout.
JACKSON HOLE AND THE TOWN OF JACKSON
Jackson Hole, the broad valley between the Teton Range to the west and the Gros Ventre Mountains to the east, is Wyoming’s most cosmopolitan and sophisticated destination. The town of Jackson, at the southern end of the valley, has evolved from a rough-edged frontier outpost into a full-service resort community with excellent restaurants, galleries, boutique hotels, and a vibrant cultural scene, all wrapped in a Western aesthetic that, while sometimes theatrical, still connects to genuine ranching and outdoor heritage.
The famous town square, with its four arches made of naturally shed elk antlers at each corner, is a popular gathering place and photo opportunity. The boardwalk storefronts along the square house a mix of galleries, outfitters, restaurants, bars, and shops. The Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, with its saddle bar stools and neon signs, is a Jackson institution and a fine place for a drink and some live country music on a summer evening.
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, just north of town at the base of Rendezvous Mountain, is one of the premier ski destinations in North America. With 2,500 acres of terrain, 4,139 feet of vertical drop (the most of any resort in the contiguous United States), and a reputation for challenging, ungroomed terrain, it attracts serious skiers from around the world. The aerial tram to the summit of Rendezvous Mountain operates year-round and provides jaw-dropping views even for non-skiers.
Snow King Mountain, rising directly behind the town of Jackson, is a smaller, more locals-oriented ski area that also operates a mountain coaster and other summer activities. Grand Targhee Resort, on the western slope of the Tetons on the Wyoming-Idaho border, is beloved for its deep, consistent powder snow and its laid-back atmosphere.
Beyond skiing, Jackson Hole offers world-class fly fishing on the Snake River and its tributaries, whitewater rafting, hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, hot air ballooning, wildlife safaris, and the National Elk Refuge, where up to 11,000 elk gather each winter in one of the most spectacular wildlife congregations in North America. Horse-drawn sleigh rides through the refuge in winter are a magical and uniquely Wyoming experience.
The National Museum of Wildlife Art, perched above the National Elk Refuge north of town, is an outstanding museum with a collection of more than 5,000 works of art featuring wildlife as subject matter. The museum building itself, designed to echo the surrounding geology, is worth visiting for its architecture alone.
CODY AND THE BUFFALO BILL CONNECTION
Named for William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, the legendary scout, bison hunter, and showman who co-founded the town in 1896, Cody is a town that wears its Western heritage proudly and authentically. It sits at the eastern gateway to Yellowstone, about 52 miles from the park’s East Entrance, and makes an excellent base for Yellowstone exploration as well as a destination in its own right.
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West is one of the finest museum complexes in the American West, consisting of five separate museums under one roof: the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Plains Indian Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, the Draper Natural History Museum, and the Cody Firearms Museum. Together they tell the story of the American West with depth, scholarship, and genuine respect for all the cultures involved. Plan to spend at least half a day, and ideally a full day, doing the complex justice.
The Cody Nite Rodeo, held every evening from June through August, is one of the longest-running nightly rodeos in the country and a genuinely exciting event that showcases the skills of professional cowboys and cowgirls in events including bull riding, barrel racing, calf roping, and bareback bronc riding. It is a quintessentially Wyoming evening entertainment option.
The Shoshone River, which flows through the Wapiti Valley west of Cody toward Yellowstone, offers excellent whitewater rafting. The valley itself is one of the most scenic drives in Wyoming, passing through dramatic red rock canyons, past guest ranches and outfitters, through Shoshone National Forest, and up into the high country approaching Yellowstone.
CHEYENNE AND THE EASTERN PLAINS
Cheyenne, Wyoming’s capital and largest city, sits at the southeastern corner of the state where the high plains meet the Laramie Mountains. With a population of about 65,000, it is a mid-sized city with a strong Western identity and a genuine civic pride that centers on its most famous event: Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Held each July since 1897, Cheyenne Frontier Days is the world’s largest outdoor rodeo and one of the premier Western heritage festivals in the country. For ten days, the city hosts professional rodeo competition, concerts featuring major country and rock acts, a parade, a free pancake breakfast for thousands, carnival rides, and western trade shows. It is known as “the Daddy of ’em All,” and the atmosphere during Frontier Days is electric, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world.
The Wyoming State Capitol, completed in 1888 and featuring a gold-leafed dome, is a beautiful landmark open for tours. The Wyoming State Museum and the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum offer deeper context for the state’s history and the famous annual celebration.
Fort Laramie National Historic Site, about 90 miles north of Cheyenne, is one of the most important and evocative historic sites in the American West. This frontier military fort, operating from 1849 to 1890, was a key waypoint on the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails and the site of important treaty negotiations with Native nations. Several original and reconstructed buildings are open to visitors, and the site conveys the layered and often tragic history of western expansion with unusual honesty and care.
The town of Laramie, home to the University of Wyoming, is a college town with a lively arts scene, good restaurants, and access to the scenic Snowy Range to the west. The Wyoming Territorial Prison, a restored 19th-century prison that once held outlaws including Butch Cassidy, is an interesting historic attraction.
COWBOY CULTURE AND GUEST RANCHES
Wyoming’s identity is inseparable from its ranching heritage, and the cowboy is not merely a marketing image here but a living figure still working cattle on millions of acres of rangeland across the state. For visitors who want to engage with this culture directly, the guest ranch experience is one of Wyoming’s most distinctive and memorable offerings.
Wyoming has dozens of guest ranches, ranging from working cattle operations where guests participate in actual ranch work alongside the cowboys to resort-style dude ranches where the Western atmosphere is the setting for recreation and relaxation. The best guest ranches offer horseback riding on the open range, cattle work, campfire cookouts, fly fishing, hiking, and an immersion in the rhythms of ranch life that provides a genuine counterpoint to the pace of modern urban existence.
The Absaroka Mountain Lodge, CM Ranch, Lost Creek Ranch, Moose Head Ranch, and numerous others have histories stretching back decades and loyal clientele who return year after year. Many guest ranches require week-long stays and book up well in advance, particularly for summer weeks.
Rodeo culture is alive and well throughout Wyoming, with events held in towns large and small throughout the summer. The Sheridan WYO Rodeo in July, the Cody Stampede on the Fourth of July, and countless smaller local rodeos offer opportunities to see professional and amateur cowboys compete in the skills that define the working ranching tradition.
OUTDOOR RECREATION
Wyoming’s vast public lands, managed by the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, and the state, offer outdoor recreation opportunities of almost unlimited variety and scale.
Hiking trails range from easy boardwalk strolls through thermal basins to multi-week wilderness traverses. The Wind River High Route, a rugged off-trail route through the Wind River Range, is considered one of the greatest long-distance hiking experiences in North America by those with the experience and fitness to attempt it. The Teton Crest Trail, a multi-day route along the spine of the Teton Range, is perhaps the most popular backcountry trip in the region and requires permits during peak season.
Fly fishing in Wyoming is world-class. The Snake River, the Green River below Flaming Gorge, the North Platte River near Casper and Saratoga, the Yellowstone River, and the Bighorn River below Yellowstone are among the most productive and beautiful trout fisheries in North America. The state issues fishing licenses to non-residents and has an extensive network of public access points along its rivers and streams.
Rock climbing opportunities abound, from the classic routes on Devils Tower to the granite spires of the Wind Rivers to the sport climbing crags near Lander and Sinks Canyon. Lander has developed into one of the premier rock climbing communities in the country, with a strong outdoor culture centered on the Climbing Wall at Sinks Canyon and dozens of crags in the surrounding area.
Mountain biking has grown enormously in popularity, with trail networks near Jackson, Lander, Laramie, and other communities offering terrain for riders of all abilities. The Cache Creek trail system near Jackson and the Rendezvous Trail System at Snow King Mountain are particularly popular.
Off-highway vehicle use on designated routes through BLM and forest service lands is popular, particularly in the Bighorn Basin and the Red Desert. Snowmobiling in the winter, particularly in the areas surrounding Yellowstone and in the Wind Rivers, draws enthusiasts from across the country.
The Red Desert in south-central Wyoming is one of the most overlooked wild places in the United States. This vast high-desert basin, covering millions of acres, supports a remarkable diversity of wildlife including wild horses, pronghorn, desert elk, sage grouse, and numerous raptors. It contains the Killpecker Sand Dunes, the largest active sand dunes in the United States, as well as ancient petroglyphs and fossils. It is a landscape of austere beauty that rewards those willing to venture off the pavement.
WILDLIFE WATCHING
Wyoming is one of the best places in the lower 48 states for wildlife watching, with populations of large mammals that have been largely eliminated from most of the country still thriving here in significant numbers.
Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley is rightly famous as the premier wildlife watching destination in the continental United States. In the early morning and evening hours, the valley can feel like an African game park, with bison, wolves, bears, elk, pronghorn, and coyotes all potentially visible from the road. Wolf-watching in the Lamar Valley, particularly in winter when the animals are more active and easier to spot against the snow, has become a pursuit that draws dedicated visitors from around the world.
Grizzly bears are a symbol of Wyoming’s wild character, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem supports one of the largest populations of grizzlies in the lower 48 states, numbering more than 700 animals. Bear sightings in Yellowstone and Grand Teton are not uncommon, particularly in spring when bears emerge from hibernation and in the fall as they feed intensively before denning. All encounters with bears require caution and respect; the park service provides detailed guidance on bear safety.
The National Elk Refuge north of Jackson hosts one of the world’s great wildlife spectacles each winter, when thousands of elk migrate down from the high country and gather on the refuge’s meadows. The adjacent town of Jackson is perhaps the only place in the country where you can walk out of a fine restaurant and see a herd of elk crossing the street.
Pronghorn antelope, capable of sustained speeds exceeding 55 miles per hour, are found throughout Wyoming’s plains and basins in numbers that can be startling to visitors from more settled parts of the country. Driving across the eastern plains, it is not unusual to see dozens or hundreds of pronghorn in a single day. They undertake one of the longest land migrations in the Western Hemisphere, moving between their summer range in the high country and their winter range on the lower plains.
Bighorn sheep inhabit the rocky terrain of various mountain ranges and canyons throughout the state. The Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Sheep Herd near Dubois is one of the largest Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep herds in the country. Moose, the largest members of the deer family, are found in riparian areas and forest edges throughout the western mountains, with particularly reliable viewing in the willows along the Snake and Buffalo Fork rivers.
FOOD, DRINK, AND LODGING
Wyoming’s food scene is shaped by its ranching heritage and its position as a destination for both working people and affluent tourists. The contrast can be stark: in Jackson you can enjoy a meal at a world-class restaurant featuring locally sourced ingredients and a sophisticated wine list, while in a small plains town you might find a diner serving honest, enormous portions of beef and eggs that fuel a working ranch day.
Wyoming beef is legendary for its quality, raised on vast ranches where cattle graze on native grasses and sagebrush-scented air. A Wyoming ribeye or T-bone steak, served in one of the old-fashioned steakhouses that anchor towns from Cheyenne to Cody, is one of the genuine pleasures of visiting the state. Wyoming lamb and bison are also excellent and widely available.
Jackson’s restaurant scene is disproportionately strong for a town of its size, reflecting the spending power of the international visitors and wealthy second-home owners who form a significant part of its clientele. Notable establishments have offered menus built around wild game, locally caught fish, and seasonal produce, with wine lists and cocktail programs that would be respectable in any major American city.
Wyoming’s craft beer scene, while smaller than that of states with larger populations, is growing and producing some notable products. Snake River Brewing in Jackson has been operating since 1994 and has won numerous national and international awards. Melvin Brewing, also started in Jackson and now operating more broadly, has developed a national reputation particularly for its hop-forward ales. Black Tooth Brewing in Sheridan and Cheyenne, Roadhouse Brewing in Jackson, and Altitude Chophouse and Brewery in Laramie are other worthwhile stops.
Lodging in Wyoming spans an extraordinary range. At the luxury end, the Four Seasons Resort and Residences in Jackson Hole, the Amangani resort above Jackson, and the Ranch at Rock Creek offer some of the finest hospitality in the American West, with price tags to match. The historic inns within Yellowstone, including the Old Faithful Inn, the Lake Yellowstone Hotel, and the Canyon Lodge, offer a more moderate and uniquely atmospheric experience. Guest ranches provide inclusive all-in stays that combine lodging, meals, and activities. Throughout the state, independently owned motels, bed and breakfasts, and small hotels in historic buildings offer comfortable and characterful options at a range of price points. Camping, in both developed campgrounds and dispersed wilderness sites on public lands, is abundant and often extraordinary.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION FOR VISITORS
Wyoming operates on Mountain Time. The state sales tax is 4 percent, one of the lowest in the country, and there is no state income tax.
Wyoming is a large state, and distances between destinations are considerable. Driving from Cheyenne to Jackson is about 440 miles and takes seven or eight hours. From Cody to Jackson is about 175 miles over a mountain pass. Planning realistic driving times is essential, and building in stops for scenery, wildlife, and unexpected discoveries is strongly recommended, as the best moments in Wyoming are often unplanned.
Cell service is limited or nonexistent in much of the state, including large portions of Yellowstone and the Wind Rivers. Downloaded offline maps and physical paper maps are essential for anyone planning to travel beyond the main corridors.
Altitude can affect visitors unaccustomed to the high elevation. Much of Wyoming sits above 5,000 feet, and the mountains and passes reach considerably higher. Symptoms of altitude adjustment, including headache, fatigue, and shortness of breath, are common in the first day or two. Drinking extra water and avoiding overexertion immediately upon arrival helps. Anyone with heart or lung conditions should consult a physician before traveling to high altitude.
Wildlife safety is a serious matter. In bear country, which includes all of Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and the surrounding forests, bear spray is strongly recommended and should be carried and readily accessible at all times. Giving large animals, including bison and elk, a wide berth is not optional; bison in particular are deceptively fast and have gored and seriously injured careless visitors who approached too closely. The rule in national parks is to stay at least 25 yards from most wildlife and at least 100 yards from bears and wolves.
Wyoming weather is notoriously variable. Summer afternoons frequently bring powerful thunderstorms, particularly at higher elevations, and lightning is a serious threat above treeline. Winter conditions can be severe and come early and stay late at elevation. Spring and fall can deliver snow at any time. Layers, waterproof outer shells, and sun protection are essential gear in all seasons.
The wind in Wyoming is legendary. Cheyenne regularly records some of the highest average wind speeds of any city in the country, and the plains and exposed ridgelines can be ferociously windy. This is not merely a comfort issue; high winds can make driving large vehicles or RVs dangerous, and certain passes and stretches of interstate are sometimes closed due to extreme wind conditions.
Water from Wyoming’s backcountry streams and lakes, while crystal clear, should be filtered or treated before drinking, as giardia and other pathogens are present. Even in Yellowstone, where the water looks pristine, treatment is essential.
Entrance fees for Yellowstone and Grand Teton are charged per vehicle and are valid for seven days in both parks. The America the Beautiful annual pass, which provides access to all federal lands, is an excellent investment for anyone planning to visit multiple parks or public lands.
THE SPIRIT OF WYOMING
What is it that draws people to Wyoming and keeps them coming back? It is not comfort or convenience, for Wyoming offers neither in abundance. It is not sophistication or the pleasures of urban culture, though Jackson provides some of that. It is something harder to name and easier to feel.
It is the particular quality of light on the plains in the late afternoon, when the sagebrush turns silver and the shadows of the mountains stretch for miles. It is the silence of the Wind Rivers on a clear morning when the only sounds are the wind in the pines and the distant call of a Clark’s nutcracker. It is the sight of a grizzly bear digging for roots in a meadow below the Tetons, or a wolf trotting across the frozen surface of the Lamar Valley in the blue light before dawn, or a thousand bison moving across a hillside in a slow, dark tide.
It is the feeling, rare and increasingly precious in the modern world, of being genuinely small in a genuinely large landscape. Wyoming has not been tamed or smoothed or made entirely convenient. It still requires something of you: attention, preparation, respect, and a willingness to be humbled by what the earth is capable of producing when left largely to its own ancient purposes.
Come to Wyoming with an open schedule, a spirit of curiosity, and a tolerance for the unexpected. The geyser will erupt when it is ready. The wolves will appear or they will not. The storm will come over the mountains with no warning, and the light afterward will be worth everything the rain cost you. This is a state that operates on geological time, and the best way to experience it is to slow down enough to approach that scale, if only for a little while.
Wyoming will not disappoint those who come to meet it on its own terms. It will surprise them, challenge them, and very likely change them. That is what the great wild places of the earth do, and Wyoming is, without question, one of the greatest of them.
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