Highlights
Winter Activities and Snow Sports
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort offers over 2,500 acres of skiable terrain and terrific Alpine skiing and snowboarding for experts and beginners. Another option is Snow King resort, Wyoming’s first ski centre and home to North America’s steepest slope – there’s also the ‘Cowboy Coaster’, a snow tube park, an ice-rink and a ski school. A little further afield is Grand Targhee resort, boasting 3,000 acres of prime powder snow and more than 15 kilometres of trails for Nordic skiing. Other activities in the region include heli-skiing, snowshoeing, fat tyre biking, dog sled tours, snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, snow coach tours, sleigh rides, scenic flights and winter fly-fishing.
Wildlife
Year-round wildlife-viewing is a thrilling feature of holidays to Wyoming, with elk, bison, moose, mule deer, Pronghorn Antelope, coyotes, wolves, black and Grizzly Bears, Bald Eagles and more. Autumn is the breeding season, followed by long, cold winters when many animals hibernate until spring – if you’re lucky, you may spot bears emerging from hibernation with their young and witness their first steps into their new homeland. Other animals, such as moose and elk, seek refuge in the valleys, where the climate is still cold, but a little more sheltered. Further south, you’ll find evidence of much older creatures – Wyoming is home to some of the best dinosaur fields in the world!
Summer Activities and Sports
Activities are plentiful in this state, from wildlife safaris, tours of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, forest hikes, trout fishing, rides by chairlift or aerial tram, golf on championship fairways, tennis with a pro, mountain-biking, horse-riding and photography workshops. For an amazing aerial adventure and bird’s-eye view of rugged canyons, Alpine rivers, hot springs, gushing geysers and emerald-green forests, discover Wyoming’s incredible landscapes by chartering a private plane or helicopter. Alternatively, soak up the scenery as you float down rivers by traditional wooden boat, keeping a look out for wildlife. Those keen to feel an adrenaline rush, however, can opt for the fast-paced excitement of white-water rafting.
Culture & History
Wyoming is a perfect gateway to the ‘Old West’, steeped in tales of dude ranching, rodeos, gold-seekers and Native Americans. Attractions include Jackson Hole Rodeo, a fantastic display of the Wild West, with cowboys, bulls and bucking broncos, as well as the Jackson Hole Shootout, where cowboys battle it out around the square. Another favourite is a covered wagon cookout, with ‘Cowboys and Indians’, hearty food and folk music. Other places of interest include Jackson Hole Museum, the National Museum of Wildlife Art and the Jackson Hole Children’s Museum. Be sure to visit the historic town of Cody, founded in 1896 by charismatic cowboy, William F ‘Buffalo Bill’ Cody, and Old Trail Town, a well-preserved collection of frontier buildings and local artefacts.
National Parks
Yellowstone is the world’s first national park, filled with extraordinary natural wonders, from bears, birds and howling wolves, to countless species of plants, serene lakes, petrified forests, dramatic canyons and hundreds of tumbling waterfalls. Not forgetting the Yellowstone Caldera, or ‘super-volcano’, plus some 10,000 thermal features and over 300 geysers bubbling, belching and erupting in gigantic blasts of steam and boiling water – an awesome sight! South of Yellowstone is Grand Teton National Park, famous for its iconic, glacier-carved, mountain range, the Tetons. Reflected in Alpine lakes on the valley floor, these splendid, snow-capped, peaks frame a pristine wilderness of canyons, rivers, forests and verdant plains carpeted with wildflowers.