Wyoming

Wyoming boasts a positively selfish hoard of natural outdoor beauty! From the soaring peaks of the Grand Tetons to Jackson Hole valley and Yellowstone National Park, the mountain landscape and natural wonders of Wyoming are breathtaking. All-season outdoor activities prove a natural draw for families, couples and group getaways. Sports lovers golf through spring and summer at attractive rates or tackle river and lake fishing, hunting and hiking. Families take to Alpine skiing and snowmobiling in Jackson Hole, Snow King, Grand Targhee and Pine Creek. Every visitor is awed by the deep canyons and steaming geysers of The Yellowstone National Park. Each magnificent sight rivals the next.

The Grand Tetons rise over a mile above Jackson Hole valley, where a ride on the Aerial Tram from Teton Village offers unforgettable views. Across the entire state, wildlife stakes its rightful claim, from bison and bighorn sheep herds to black bear and mountain elk. For a step back in frontier history, take the family to go Native America to experience Native American culture, history and arts of the Plains Tribes. Enjoy tours with indigenous guides, horseback riding and roping lessons. With every experience, your family will gain a sense of the pioneer spirit that pushed America westward.

A stay in Jackson Hole offers something for everyone. Your time in the Tetons will be marked by the serene to the extreme, from connecting to the cowboy spirit and unsurpassed outdoor recreation and adventure, to exploring two national parks. With all of this available, you’re bound to discover a wealth of things to do.

Jackson Hole brags that it’s the “last of the Old West,” and the bravado is real. Like ghostly brands on the wilderness, traces remain of the valley’s original homesteaders and all over town the cowboy flair lives on in spades.

Jackson Town Square is lined not with concrete sidewalks, but rather wooden boardwalks. The wood planking leads you to two iconic Western watering holes: the iconic Million Dollar Cowboy Bar (where you can sit on a saddle bar stool!) and the Silver Dollar Bar in the historic Wort Hotel, where 2,032 uncirculated Morgan Silver Dollars from the Denver Mint are embedded into the top of the famous bar. Indulge your inner cowboy or cowgirl by partaking in some Western swing dancing at the Cowboy Bar or the Silver Dollar, or head out to the Stagecoach Bar in Wilson for “Sunday Church.”

The spirit of the West is also present at the Jackson Hole Rodeo, the various authentic dude ranches in the valley and, of course, in the wide, open spaces decorated by sagebrush and even the occasional tumbleweed.

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If you’re looking to have a non-driving day of family fun while you're here in the Tetons with the flexibility of quick activities for all ages, look no further than Teton Village. Nestled at the base of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, the Village is the perfect place to spend the day while playing in and around the mountain. Start with breakfast and finish up your epic top to bottom day with a perfect dinner where you can re-live the myriad of memorable adventures you had with friends and family. Here are some of ideas to help you plan your own special itinerary.

If you opted for breakfast at Corbet’s Cabin, hike around at the summit for a bit. We recommend walking a very short and relatively easy distance down to the top of the famous Corbet’s Couloir—the rocky, crazy vertical expert ski run that separates the men from the boys during ski season! You can also watch paragliders “jumping off” the mountain with Jackson Hole Paragliding before hopping aboard the tram for a return to the base. Of course you can treat yourself to paragliding, a true bucket list item.

The base of the ski resort is where oodles of action take place. You have your pick of activity in the Grand Adventure Park: mountain biking, the bungee trampoline, the rock wall, ropes course, or all of the above and more. The Grand Adventure Pass ($82 per person or family pass $235 for up to 6 people) gives you unlimited access from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to every activity mentioned plus riding the tram and free falling from the new Drop Tower next to the ropes course. You can also opt to pay just for the adventure or two you’d like to indulge in now—and maybe save one more for after lunch.

Make lunch a light one by grabbing a fried chicken sandwich from Bodega’s food truck, or choose from a variety of gastronomic goodies from Tin Can Cantina at the base of the Bridger Gondola (open Wednesday through Sunday only) or Nick Wilson’s at the base of the tram.

Did you buy a Grand Adventure Pass earlier in the day? Well, keep the good times rolling with that, or, if you opted to pick and choose your adrenaline rush, partake of one—like mountain biking—for the afternoon. Options abound for every level of biker, including novice trails for the uninitiated as well as some major eye-opening advanced trails. Rent a bike at Jackson Hole Sports or Teton Village Sports.

If mountain biking isn’t your thing, consider carousing and crisscrossing the lower mountain on foot via the great disc golf course in Teton Village. This free, 18-hole course incorporates three loops, each going a bit higher up the mountain; there is a lower 9-hole course that can be played fairly quickly. Jackson Hole Sports sells discs if you don’t have your own.

Phew—What a full day of adventure! Put the cherry on top of your terrific Teton Village experience with a hearty dinner at the kid-friendly Mangy Moose, or the equally family-esque and local favorite Teton Thai; it hasn’t been voted the "Best Thai Food Place" in the valley for nothing. If you're feeling like handmade pizza and/or other Italian dishes then Il Villagio Osteria is perfecto!

Cody offers a number of exciting things to do, including the world-class Buffalo Bill Center of the West, a rodeo, reenactments, and a fascinating living history museum with frontier buildings. You can raft the Shoshone River, venture out to the range to see wild mustangs, and end the day with dinner at the iconic Irma Hotel and a country music show nearby. This "Rodeo Capital of the World" has a walkable downtown teeming with cowboy apparel stores, galleries, and fantastic restaurants.

You can spend an entire day at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West and still have more to explore. This Smithsonian-affiliated center has five museums under one roof. Learn all about the extraordinary life of the founder of Cody and his rip-roaring Wild West show at the Buffalo Bill Museum, featuring interactive exhibits and multimedia presentations. Marvel at artwork from Remington to Russell at the Whitney Western Art Museum.

Set against the clear blue skies of Wyoming, Old Trail Town houses a collection of 26 historic cabins and a trail of well-worn wagons, giving visitors a glimpse of what an old western town looked like.

For a good introduction to Cody, hop on a Cody Trolley Tour for an enjoyable 60-minute guided tour of the town's main attractions and beyond. Points of interest include the historic downtown district, rodeo grounds, and the Shoshone River Canyon, where you will see one of the region's most scenic canyon vistas.

Early settlers who ventured to the wild lands of Wyoming required skills of horsemanship to handle and manage livestock, which have since been passed down to generations. In the American West, these skills are just as important today on working ranches. At the Cody Nite Rodeo, operating since 1938, visitors get to witness real western, family-friendly action with cowboys, broncos, and bull-riders.

If rodeos aren't your thing, spend your evening being serenaded by Dan Miller Cowboy Music Revue at a theater located across the street from the Irma Hotel. Having recently moved from the Kuyper Dining Pavilion at the Buffalo Center of the West, the talented team led by Nashville veteran Dan Miller—with daughter Hannah Miller and other musicians Tim Bushnell and Wendy Corr—has been entertaining guests for more than 15 years.

Cheyenne is Wyoming’s largest city, but at just over 50,000 people it is not a place where you’ll have to fight traffic or wait in lines—except, perhaps, during the last nine days in July, when the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days makes the city positively boom. Throughout the year it offers a decent variety of shopping, plus attractions ranging from art galleries to museums to parks.

One of the great ways for a tenderfoot to get acclimated to Cheyenne is to take the historic Street Railway Trolley tour. If touring on your own is more to your taste, Cheyenne offers a unique program of audio tours for its seven main museums and another for its Big Boots. (Throughout the city, visitors to Cheyenne will find giant decorated cowboy books created by local artists.) Best of all, the audio tours are free and allow tourists to move at their own pace using their own cell phones.

Each year, thousands flock to Cheyenne’s–and the world’s–largest outdoor rodeo, known as Cheyenne Frontier Days. With 10 days of rodeo and Western entertainment, this premier event should not be missed. Since 1897, Frontier Days has provided not just a great rodeo, but a lot of other activities as well, including a Western Art Show amp; Sale, parades, free pancake breakfasts, and Indian dancing, along with great musical entertainment nightly. Its dates for 2011 are July 22-31, but visitors can always get more details at www.CFDRodeo.com.

The world’s first national park is also one of its most distinctive. From rocky flats dotted with plumes of mysterious steam to bubbling mud pots and geothermal pools in shades of startling aquamarine and goldenrod, there is no place on Earth quite like it. In fact, Yellowstone contains the largest concentration of geysers in the world, including its most famous geyser, Old Faithful.

The south entrance to Yellowstone is only about an hour’s drive from Jackson. In fact, the popularity of Yellowstone in drawing sightseers to this region helped Jackson’s tourist trade take hold in the 1920s, when dude ranches like the still-operating Triangle X Ranch began inviting visitors to stay. Since then, Jackson Hole’s amenity base has grown exponentially when compared to the park’s other three gateway towns.

Often overlooked by Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park is generally beloved by all visitors to the point where they wish they had more time to explore it. Grand Teton Park is more “do,” whereas Yellowstone is more “see.”

The most accessible park for recreation due to its close proximity to Jackson Hole, this adventure-laden gem is 484-square miles rich in extraordinary wildlife, pristine lakes, hiking trails, a multi-use pathway system, the Snake River, and, oh yes, serenity. And did we mention the majestic, awe-inspiring Teton Range that runs the length of the 100-year-old park? Getting close to those mountains alone is worth the price of admission.
Hope this helped !!!