Cheyenne Frontier Days and the Old West Museum
It’s called the “Daddy of ‘Em All” – the world’s largest outdoor rodeo and western celebration. Established in 1897, Cheyenne Frontier Days plays host to a half million visitors from around the world during the last full week in July. Ten days of old-fashioned hospitality, with over 100 years of traditions celebrating the Old West with rodeos, top-name entertainment, free pancake breakfasts, and more.
Over 1,800 cowboys and cowgirls participate in the $1 million PRCA Rodeo. The dedicated facilities in Cheyenne, Wyoming include an arena, track, and carnival. Other areas include the White Horse Gulch Frontier Village, a Native American Village, cowboy campground, shopping, and plenty of food.
Parades through the streets of Cheyenne feature the world’s largest collection of horse-drawn carriages, many of which are antiques from the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum. Pancake breakfasts in front of the Union Pacific Depot feed upwards of 10,000 visitors a day. The Native American Indian Village offers performances of music, dance, and storytelling by members of the Wind River Reservation. The Cheyenne Frontier Days Western Art Show and Sale offers paintings, carvings, and Navajo weavings for sale. The United States Air Force Thunderbirds provide an aerial demonstration each year. The Chuckwagon Cookoff pits contestants against in other in a food competition, which is originated from the authentic chuckwagons.
The Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum offers exhibitions, collections, and educational programs that capture the history of Cheyenee Frontier Days and the American West. The museum showcases nearly 150 horse-drawn wagons and carriages, from stagecoaches, to milk wagons. Cultural and education programs throughout the year make Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum one of Wyoming’s top year-round attractions. The museum also features the annual Western Art Show and Sale, hosts the annual Kids Cowboy Festival, and much more.
Cheyenne Frontier Days runs 10 days inclusive of the last full week in July. The Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum is open year round and is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
Grand Teton National Park
The majestic Grand Teton Range rises abruptly from the valley floor, the jagged, granite peaks reaching toward the sky, while the glacial lakes below reflect the mountain skyline in the clear blue waters. The vista is one of the most recognizable in the west. It is the Grand Teton National Park located in the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming. The 1880s saw an influx of people to the area for the hunting and fishing opportunities. In the late 1890s, the area was protected from development when it became the Cleveland Teton Forest Reserve. In 1929, it became Grand Teton National Park. Located in northeast Wyoming, Grand Teton National Park plays host to over 4 million visitors each year.
The Grand Teton range formed when series of earthquakes split two rectangular plates of earth, sending one plate high up into the sky and the other down deep. No foothill blocks the view of the scale of the peaks. Glaciers eroded the tips of the ranges leaving their sculptures behind, exposing the rock on the peaks that was once connected to the sandstone 24,000 ft below the valley. Heavy water runoff from the mountains carried rocks, and sand to the valley floor. Water filled the “hole” (a high plateau ringed by the mountains) and when the water receded, it left a flat valley. Once a millennium or so, the fault at the base of the Teton Range sends earthquakes of 7.5 or more on the Richter Scale, causing the mountains to rise higher and the valley floor to hinge downward even lower.
The 55-mile wide valley is called Jackson Hole and the Grand Teton National Park encompasses the western half of the valley. (The city of Jackson is often mistakenly called Jackson Hole or Jackson’s Hole.) Jackson Hole averages an elevation that is 6,800 ft above sea level. Jackson Lake is the largest of the glacial lakes in Jackson Hole. From the floor of Jackson Hole, the tallest peak in the 40-mile long, 7-9 mile wide Grand Teton range rises to 13.770 ft above sea level. Twelve more peaks rise to 12,000 ft or higher.
Visitors to the Grand Teton National Park enjoy a wealth of recreational opportunities including raft rides on the Snake River, climbing, boating, hiking, fishing, camping, and swimming. The winter brings out the skiers, snowmobilers, and snowshoers. Overnight backpacking, boating, canoeing, fishing, and snowmobiling are permitted with special fees, permits, licenses, or registration.
Grand Teton National Park and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway (the scenic highway at the northern border of the park was named in recognition of Rockefeller's contribution to protecting the area) is open year round, with limited facilities in the winter. The Moose Visitor Center is open year round and is closed on Christmas. The Jenny Lake Ranger Station and the Jenny Lake Visitor Center, the Colter Bay Visitor Center & Indian Arts Museum, and the Flagg Ranch Information Station are open in the summer and close at various times in the fall for the winter season.
Yellowstone National Park
The home of Old Faithful is the nation’s first national park, Yellowstone. Established in 1872, Yellowstone National Park straddles three states, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, with the bulk of the park existing in Wyoming. The park is known for its rich heritage embodying the western frontier. Within the park, wildlife roams free – grizzly and black bears, wolves, pronghorn, moose, elk, and bison. The distinctive features of Yellowstone National Park are the geysers and hot springs. These fascinating attractions draw over 3.7 million visitors each year, making it one of the biggest vacation destinations in the northwest.
Yellowstone National Park is 3,458 square miles on a high plateau (level region) that is surrounded by mountain ranges. The park also has the highest concentration of geysers and hot springs – about 3,000 – more than exist elsewhere in the world. The most famous geyser, Old Faithful, shoots a fountain of water anywhere from 100-180 feet into the air approximately every 75 minutes. (Times actually vary.) The geysers and hot springs, along with the fumaroles and mudpots, are evidence of volcanic activity beneath the surface of the earth.
The Yellowstone Lake is the largest in the park and from it flows the Yellowstone River. The Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River can be seen from scenic overlooks. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River runs through the north end of the park. This amazing canyon features a 300-ft waterfall and the walls display the variations of all the colors of the spectrum. Yellowstone National Park is the site of some petrified (fossilized) forests. Over the years, mineral deposits from the geysers have turned the trees into stone.
Activities at Yellowstone National Park include site-seeing, camping, hiking, bicycling, boating, and fishing. Visitors may participate in the many Ranger-led programs. Junior Ranger programs are available for kids age 5-12. Popular attractions to visitors within the park are Old Faithful, Mammoth Hot Springs, Norris Geyser Basin, Fountain Paint Pot, Midway Geyser Basin, Mud Volcano, and more.
The Albright Visitor Center is open year round. The Old Faithful and West Yellowstone Visitor Centers are open April through November, with over-snow vehicle only access the rest of the winter. The other visitor centers, information stations, and museums are open late May through late September. The North Entrance in Gardiner, Montana is the only entrance open (subject to weather) in the winter to wheeled vehicles. Entrance to the park and exits from the park must be made from the Montana entrance.