Staying in Wyoming is one of the easiest ways to get the full western experience. This state offers things to do and see. Be a rancher for a day, take an educational camp, or just enjoy the view from your room.

Wyoming has bed and breakfasts, hotels, dude ranches, and resorts all with local flare and year-round activities. Of all the different places you can stay, there's one thing they've all got in common...that western hospitality Wyoming is famous for.

Recreational opportunities abound in Wyoming from digging up fossils to kayaking on Lake Yellowstone. All roads lead to something in Wyoming. Stop and experience the endless sights and activities on the way to or back from Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

Or, check out Devil's Tower from the tee at the town of Hulett's fine, new golf course. The general store in the town of Aladdin is over 100 years old. You'll want to get a picture of the family seated out front of the store on the "Liar's Bench".

Road Trips
Driving through Wyoming is particularly enjoyable, as the state's scenic byways can provide a splendid scenic backdrop to your trip. Wyoming's system of Scenic and Back Country Byways invite the traveler to exit the Interstate; to leave traffic's noise, hassle and hustle behind and enter a world of peace, quiet and solitude; to slow down and enjoy the drive...and the view.

For example, crossing The Big Horns Cloud Peak Skyway (US-16) offers excellent views into the rugged Cloud Peak Wilderness, dominated by 13,187-foot Cloud Peak, before crossing Powder River Pass at an elevation just shy of 10,000 feet.

And the Big Horn Scenic Byway (US-14) passes geological formations named Buffalo Tongue, the Fallen City and Steamboat Point before reaching Burgess Junction and 9,000-foot Granite Pass. The spectacular drive down Shell Canyon is highlighted by a stop at Shell Falls and the adjacent U. S. Forest Service interpretative center.

The Beartooth Highway Scenic Byway (US-212) is, perhaps, North America's most spectacular alpine highway. This above-timberline drive takes travelers among towering peaks and glacier-fed lakes, then into the beautiful Clark' s Fork Valley, dominated by Pilot and Index Peaks, before reaching Yellowstone's northeast Silver Gate.

Wyoming Centennial Scenic Byway (US-26 & 287) leads the traveler past overhanging cliffs and palisades to a crossing of the Continental Divide at Togwotee Pass. John Colter, the Lewis and Clark scout who left that expedition to "discover" Yellowstone, crossed the Great Divide near this point.

Ancient Routes
Half-a-million Americans undertook a 2,000-mile, six-month journey from the Missouri River to the Pacific shores in search of a better life during the middle of the 19th century. All the covered wagon emigration trails came together in Wyoming and several forts arose to meet the settlers' needs.

Many of these trails and forts can still be found in Wyoming, allowing 21st century visitors a unique opportunity to step back into the past. The actual wagon wheel ruts of the old trails can still be seen in many places. Modern highways also follow or parallel the trails, a testament to the skill of those early scouts and explorers who relied only on dead reckoning and the lay of the land to establish the covered wagon routes.

Many wagon routes went through Wyoming including the following: the Oregon Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail, Cherokee Trail, Overland Trail, Pony Express Trail and the Bozeman Trail.

Grand Teton National Park is an ethereal mountain landscape where jagged peaks tower more than a mile above the Jackson Hole valley. The park was originally established in 1929, but grew with a large addition of land in 1950. The entire area of Grand Teton National Park is now almost 500 square miles, 98 percent of which is federally owned.

The park is located in northwestern Wyoming just south of Yellowstone National Park and just north of the town of Jackson. Visitors can reach the park through U.S. 191. The park's mountain range is quite popular among climbers, hikers and photographers. The Tetons are a prime example of fault-block mountain formation. When the earth's crust cracked along a fault millions of years ago, the Tetons rose into the sky. The exposed crystalline rocks give these mountains their dramatic appearance in any season. The Grand Teton rises to 13,770 feet above sea level and 12 other peaks reach above 12,000 feet elevation. The floor of the valley tells the story of glacial outwash where streams carried out glacial sand and boulders.

More than 60 species of mammals, over 100 species of bird and a half a dozen game fish call the Jackson Hole area home. The American elk is the most common member of the deer family in the Park. During the summer, the elk range high in the mountains in search of food. When winter comes, they again descend to the floor of Jackson Hole, many to the National Elk Refuge just north of the town of Jackson.

Grand Teton National Park offers hiking, camping, climbing, boating, kayaking and numerous photography opportunities. A road winds through the park, but the best way to experience the park is to take one of its shorter trails.

Yellowstone National Park
We enter a new century with Old Faithful as wondrous as ever in the world's first national park, Yellowstone, located in the northwest corner of Wyoming. President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the bill to create Yellowstone National Park in 1872. The nation's first national park still remains primarily a wilderness with 99 percent of the park’s 3,400 square miles (2.2 million acres) remaining undeveloped.

While Old Faithful, the most widely recognized geyser, serves as the park's signature steam, there are more than 10,000 other geothermal features in Yellowstone including geysers, hot springs, mudpots and fumaroles. In recent years some geysers that had been dormant began spouting off again. Cold water has a major role to play in the pleasuring grounds of the park as well. The Yellowstone River drops over 400 feet in two waterfalls cutting a grand canyon deep into the golden-hued rock that gives the park its name.

Family adventures in Yellowstone are boundless. Touring motor coach excursions run several routes from late May through September. One and two-hour horseback trail rides are available from Mammoth Hot Springs, Roosevelt Lodge and Canyon Village. Stagecoach travel is an option out of the Roosevelt Lodge area where the popular Old West Cookout completes the day from mid-June through early September. If you are in need of water, take a scenic cruise on Lake Yellowstone. Guided fishing trips on a cabin cruiser can yield great catches. Rowboat and outboard rentals are provided mid-June to mid-September.

Picture-perfect photo safaris originate from Lake Hotel and Lamar Valley wildlife excursions add to the park's endless learning experiences. You will see bison, elk, and many more of Yellowstone's wild creatures.

The Ranch Experience
The state's guest ranches give visitors an escape from their hectic lives by allowing the opportunity to emerge themselves in a western experience. Many places offer guided horseback trips into the backcountry or guided trips to special fishing holes.

The chance to ride a horse, rope and brand a steer or move cattle from summer to winter pasture isn't just in the movies. Guest, or "dude," ranches have offered that opportunity for the past 100 years.

Horseback riding, traditionally western style, is the major activity at any type of guest ranch. The ranches provide instruction and horses for all levels and ages of riders. Depending upon the ranch, guests may also fish, canoe, raft a river, climb a rock, ride a bike, or more recently, take llamas on a trek.

There's also the chance to see nature close, either alone or with friends. Since most ranches are remotely situated, wildlife abounds, as do wildflowers and opportunities to see the stars. Many ranches are surrounded, at least in part, by National Forest Service land, National Park Service land or state parks.

Families with children of all ages are especially welcome, and many ranches have separate programs for children and teenagers.

Rodeo
Another reason for Wyoming's nickname of the Cowboy State is the sport of rodeo. Rodeo is America's own sport, and there is a rodeo nearly every day and night somewhere in Wyoming from June to Labor Day.

Cheyenne Frontier Days, the world's largest outdoor rodeo, is a nine-day celebration of the West, held the last full week in July in the Wyoming capitol city.

Other outstanding professional rodeos include
The Cody Night Rodeo and the Cody Fourth of July Stampede; Laramie Jubilee Days; the WYO Rodeo in Sheridan; the Red Desert Roundup in Rock Springs; Cowboy Days in Evanston; Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo in Casper and the State Fair Rodeo in Douglas. Wyoming is also home to the College National Finals Rodeo each June in Casper. A couple of fall events, the Deke Latham Memorial Rodeo in Kaycee and the Casper Season Finale Rodeo, are topnotch stops along the rodeo road.