For lovers of the great outdoors, log cabins, rivers winding through deep valleys and the freshest air, Wyoming is unsurpassed. The national parks are big enough to vary in terrain, with unique wildlife, while the small towns that dot this quiet state are friendly and all have their own story to tell.
Park Life
Yellowstone National Park (the world’s first) is in Wyoming’s far north-west, with a tiny bit in both Idaho and Montana. To fully explore it, car hire is essential as there is no shuttle or other transport inside it. The years of geological activity here have thrown up some wonders of the world, with the Mammoth area hosting hot springs such as Canary and Palette – truly beautiful to behold.
Explore Artist Point with a park ranger, go camping and spot bison, wolves, elk and grizzly bears, then wait for the thrilling random eruptions of the Vixen Geyser. Even better, check the predicted eruption times of Old Faithful (about 17 times a day), which averages spurts of 40m high and nearly 100 degrees centigrade.
In winter you can ski, skate or snowmobile, boat or fish, stay in lodges and visit the five unique visitor areas. You must see the Morning Glory Pool whose heat and bacteria have given it a memorably vivid hue.
The wild, wild West
Many of Wyoming’s most popular attractions have been carved naturally by time and geology, but in Cody, just to the east of Yellowstone, you can explore the history of the area and its people at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Several museums in one, it’s worth putting aside plenty of time to see everything that it has to offer.
The Buffalo Bill Museum first opened its doors in 1917 and is dedicated to the life of William Cody, the man who founded the town and who looms large in American history. There’s also a Natural History Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, the Plains Indian Museum and the Cody Firearms Museum. Eat in saloon style at Cassie’s Steakhouse – here since 1922 – for steaks over an inch thick and, for the brave, Rocky Mountain oysters.
Park up in the prairies
In Wyoming’s far south-east, the towns of Laramie and Cheyenne occupy a strip of the I-80 reasonably close to each other. The highlight of Laramie is the Wyoming Territorial State Prison, which was opened in 1872. It’s now a museum where you can see how incarcerated outlaws lived in the old west and artefacts uncovered during recent restoration work.
Cheyenne grew up rapidly during the pioneer years, sat on an old railway line. It’s a great place to explore more of the west with its cowboy legacy clear to see. Park your car and take a horse ride through the trails before watching gunfighters recreate the past at Gunslinger Square. Get a taste of the local specialty at the Terry Bison Ranch – the Senator’s Steak House has been voted the number one bison burger in the state.
With outdoor pursuit’s aplenty and grand towns that seem to have been plucked straight of a western, Wyoming is a special part of the USA. Car hire in Wyoming is the nearest you can come to saddling up and carving out your own piece of the west.
