The adventurous spirit of the Old West trailblazers is still alive and well in Yellowstone Country. Visitors can enjoy some of the very same experiences that the nineteenth-century pioneers did—such as sauntering into the mountains on horseback—as well as thoroughly modern Western activities, like cheering for rodeo stars. On this road trip, you’ll step back into the wild age of gunfighters, saloons, ranchers, and cowboys in Wyoming’s museums and historic towns.
No Wild West tour is complete without a night at a working dude ranch. On Wyoming’s ranches, kids and adults of all skill levels get the chance to put on a cowboy hat and swing up into the saddle. Horseback riding is the heart and soul of the dude ranch experience. Visitors can choose packing trips into the mountains, hunting trips, day rides, cattle drives, nature rides, and much more. Off the horse, guests go fishing, scope for birds and wildlife, hike in the wilderness, or just plain relax and watch the sun set. Kick off your tour with at least one night at a Yellowstone Country dude ranch; the Dude Ranchers’ Association can help you find the perfect getaway for you and your family at guestranch.com.
Day two takes you to Cody, Wyoming, where your first stop should be Old Trail Town—a cluster of 26 buildings dating from 1879 to 1901, 100 horse-drawn vehicles, and an authentic collection of frontier memorabilia and artifacts. Make sure to stop at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, a complex of five museums: The Draper Museum of Natural History, the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Whitney Gallery of Western Art, the Cody Firearms Museum, and the Plains Indian museum. This impressive facility grew from a log cabin built in the 1920s to what’s now widely regarded as the finest western museum in the U.S. For even more Western heritage, head over to nearby Powell, Wyoming, to visit the Homesteader Museum.
Find out why Cody is known as “Rodeo Capital of the World”: If you’re in town from July 1-4, head to the Cody Stampede to watch 800 of the best cowboys and cowgirls in the West compete. All season, the Cody Nite Rodeo is the only seven-nights a-week rodeo in the country. Pro and up-and-coming stars face off from June to September. Finish the night at the Historic Irma Hotel, which was built by Buffalo Bill himself in 1902. The hotel is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Sheridan, Wyoming, your next Wild West hot spot, is just under three hours from Cody. A history buff’s heaven, Sheridan is packed with 30 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Stroll the shops and restaurants of Historic Main Street, tour a mansion at Kendrick Park, or stop at the legendary Mint Bar. Museum lovers can browse cowboy memorabilia at the King’s Museum, explore ranching heritage at the Trail End Historic Site, or gaze at Native American and Western art at the Bradford Brinton Memorial and Museum. Bunk at the Landmark Historic Sheridan Inn, where Buffalo Bill once auditioned acts.
The final leg of our Wild West tour takes you to Buffalo, Wyoming, a famous frontier town that lies along the Bozeman Trail. Take a step back in time at the Occidental Hotel, Saloon, and Restaurant, where many famous figures—including Buffalo Bill Cody, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Teddy Roosevelt, and Calamity Jane—once stopped for refreshments. Then head out to the Outlaw Caves where Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid hid out, or explore the Great Medicine Man Museum (Jim Gatchell Museum).
