7 Most Hospitable Towns In Wyoming
Wyoming’s most hospitable towns are rooted in close-knit communities where visitors get a genuine frontier welcome. Across the state that welcome takes many forms. Sheridan runs a rodeo that has been pulling crowds for 95 years. Jackson greets guests through four antler arches at Town Square. Thermopolis runs hot springs that locals still soak in. Cody trades on Buffalo Bill history and a recreated Wild West town.
Cody
Cody gets its name from one of the most recognizable figures of the Wild West, Buffalo Bill Cody. He was a soldier and bison hunter before launching Buffalo Bill’s Wild West in 1883, a touring show that staged often-exaggerated scenes from frontier life and conflict. Sitting Bull and Annie Oakley joined the show in 1885. In 1896, Cody helped found the town that still bears his name. The Buffalo Bill Center of the West tells the story of the show and other western topics through its network of museums, which includes the Plains Indian Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum, and the Buffalo Bill Museum.
An entire street in Cody is filled with authentic western buildings from the late 1800s to early 1900s at the Old Trail Town. This seasonally open site includes the Hole-in-the-Wall Cabin, where outlaws Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid once hid from lawmen.
Centennial
Centennial is a tiny town of under 400 people. The area started as a Union Pacific tie camp in 1868, then was officially established as a town in 1876 after gold was discovered on Centennial Ridge. The name marks the 100th anniversary of US independence. Today it’s the entry point to the Snowy Range Mountains and the Snowy Range Ski Area, a small family-friendly resort with around 30 trails and roughly 990 feet of vertical drop.
Also in town, the Nici Self Historical Museum preserves artifacts from the early 20th century. The museum includes the depot, plus exhibits on railroad worker uniforms, blacksmithing, and a claw-foot metal bathtub of the kind popular at the turn of the century. Despite the town’s size, it punches above its weight for hungry guests, with dinner at the Old Corral Hotel & Steakhouse and snacks at the Trading Post.
Laramie
Laramie has a population of around 33,000, making it one of the top five most populous cities in Wyoming. Even so, it hasn’t lost any of its small-town hospitality, including in places where you might not expect it. One of Laramie’s top attractions is the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site, which first opened in 1872 and operated until 1903. It’s one of the few remaining territorial prisons in the country and was renovated by the University of Wyoming. Today there are tours of displays featuring prison artifacts left behind.
Other places in Laramie have had similar transformations. The Laramie Plains Museum sits inside the historic Ivinson Mansion, built in 1892 in the Queen Anne Victorian style by Edward and Jane Ivinson. It was one of the few buildings in town at the time with central heating and running water. For visitors who like to walk in the footsteps of pioneers, Laramie offers the Overland Trail, an alternate route to the better-known Oregon Trail.
Jackson
Jackson is a prime entry point to Grand Teton National Park, a 310,000-acre park that pulls in more than 3 million visitors a year. Teddy Roosevelt once said that this place was “what mountains are supposed to look like.” Out of the car, visitors can see it for themselves by climbing the summits, boating on Jackson Lake, or hiking more than 250 miles of trails.
In town, Jackson’s Town Square greets guests with antler arches. All four entrances feature these arches, built from hundreds of locally sourced antlers stacked into a curved shape. The first arch went up in 1953 and the remaining three were added in the 1960s, also a major period of renewal for the town. Some of its art galleries opened that decade, including Trailside Galleries, which showcases wildlife and Western artwork.
Thermopolis
Thermopolis’s name comes from the Greek for “hot city,” which fits a town with several hot springs inside its city limits. The mineral waters here were highly regarded by Native Americans, who believed they had medicinal properties. White settlers shared that opinion, which is why visitors can still relax in the waters of Hot Springs State Park today. Hellie’s TePee Pools and Spa keeps some of the hot springs water in an outdoor pool, complete with a water slide.
Beyond the springs, Thermopolis has long been a fossil town. The Wyoming Dinosaur Center displays around 20,000 dinosaur bones from local digs and around the world. The center also runs an active excavation site for visitors to see paleontology at work.
Sheridan
Just under 20,000 people call the city of Sheridan home. Within a few hours, you can be at regional attractions like Mount Rushmore National Memorial to the east in South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park to the west. The closest natural retreat is the Cloud Peak Wilderness within the larger Bighorn National Forest. The area stuns visitors with U-shaped valleys and sharp mountain peaks.
Hikers can get into nature right in town via the Sheridan Pathways, with more than 10 miles of accessible trails through the town’s parks. Sheridan also keeps a Wild West vibe, especially at King’s Saddlery and Museum, which collects antique saddles and ropes used by working cowboys on the frontier. For 95 years, Sheridan has welcomed guests for its WYO Rodeo, held every July with bull riding and World Championship Indian Relay Races.
Ten Sleep
This unusually named town got its name from Native Americans, who used it as a landmark when traveling roughly “10 sleeps,” or a 10-day journey, between regional destinations like Fort Laramie. The town wasn’t always a sleepy place. There was a violent raid here in 1909 when cattlemen shot three sheep herders and dozens of sheep as part of the Spring Creek Raid, an episode in the feud known as the Sheep and Cattlemen’s War.
Today the town is a peaceful and hospitable place from which to see Ten Sleep Canyon along the Cloud Peak Scenic Byway or to hike in the nearby Bighorn National Forest. Visitors can learn about Ten Sleep’s tumultuous history at the Ten Sleep Pioneer Museum or pick up western hospitality at the old-timey Dirty Sally’s General Store, which serves warm coffee and ice cream.
These Towns Put On A Great Show
The most hospitable destinations know how to put on a great show, and these towns all meet that standard. Sheridan welcomes families with its nearly 100-year-old rodeo, and Cody makes visitors feel like they’ve stepped back in time at Old Trail Town. Other towns take a quieter approach, like Ten Sleep’s general store and historic fort or Thermopolis’s dino digs and hot springs. Wyoming travelers won’t want to miss these hospitable towns, even if they’re just coming in for the national parks and landmarks.
