8 Stress-Free Wyoming Towns For A Weekend Retreat

Wyoming has a way of shrinking your worries down to the size of a trailhead. The towns that do it best are the small ones. A weekend there might mean soaking in a mineral spring or catching a bluegrass jam. Cody keeps its Wild West history alive on the street every summer night. Lander sends hikers straight into Sinks Canyon. Thermopolis runs the biggest hot spring most Wyomingites have ever put a toe in. These towns are built for the kind of weekend that leaves you more relaxed than when you arrived.

Jackson

Four elk-antler arches frame the corners of Jackson's town square, each one built from sheds collected off the nearby National Elk Refuge. That mix of wildlife and walkable downtown is the whole appeal of this mountain town, founded in the late 19th century and hemmed in by the Tetons. The Snake River runs right past it, and its native fine-spotted cutthroat trout draw anglers who float and wade the same water all summer. When the fishing rods go away, the Jackson Hole History Museum shares more than 600 stories from people connected to the valley through its exhibits and oral histories. Book a room at The Wort Hotel, and you can walk to the square, the river outfitters, and dinner without moving your car.

Cody

Buffalo Bill Cody founded this town in 1896 and stamped his name on nearly everything in it. The best way to hear the frontier story is on a self-guided Travelstorys audio tour, which walks you through Cody's early days in the voices of people who study them. Contemporary landscape painters hang their work at Timmer Gallery downtown, a quieter counterpoint to the Wild Bunch, whose cast stages a free gunfight in the street most summer evenings. The reenactment happens right outside the Irma Hotel, the Victorian property Buffalo Bill built in 1902 and named for his daughter, where the porch dining and prime rib have outlasted a century of tourists. The Buffalo Bill Village Cabins keep the western theme going for the night, a short walk from the museums.

Sheridan

King's Saddlery on Main Street is a top attraction for tourists, and has been tooling leather for working ranchers since the 1960s. Next, visit the adjoining Don King Western Museum to see its collection of cowboy memorabilia. That craft heritage sits at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains, where day hikes lead past ceremonial sites and rock formations older than any human record. Admire whitetail deer, mule deer, elk, and moose in the mountains. Back in town, the Best Western Sheridan Center puts you within walking distance of the historic downtown.

Lander

"Where the rail ends and the trail begins" is how Lander has long described itself, and the trail part still runs the show. Sinks Canyon State Park sits just outside town, where the Popo Agie River vanishes into a limestone cave and resurfaces downstream in a trout-filled pool, a piece of geology worth the short drive on its own. The Fremont County Pioneer Museum lays out the settlement history for anyone who wants context before heading uphill. Lander Coffee Co and Bake Shop handles breakfast, and west of town, Allen's Diamond Four Ranch runs guided pack trips deep into the Wind River high country for those who want to sleep out.

Thermopolis

Big Spring pushes out millions of gallons a day at a steady 128 degrees Fahrenheit, which is why Thermopolis has claimed the title of the world's largest mineral hot spring since about 1900. The Swinging Bridge, a suspension footbridge over the Bighorn River, gives you the full view of the travertine terraces that the mineral water has built. A few minutes away, the Wyoming Dinosaur Center displays nearly 20,000 bones pulled from the surrounding hills and lets visitors join an active dig for a day. The Hot Springs County Museum rounds out the history, and the Best Western Plus Plaza Hotel sits minutes from the springs.

Buffalo

The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum grew out of one drugstore owner's habit of collecting whatever cowboys, lawmen, and Army scouts left behind at his pharmacy in the early 1900s. His hoard of frontier objects is a staple in Buffalo, a town wedged between the Bighorn Mountains and the plains east of them. The Bud Love Wildlife Habitat Management Area covers 7,900 acres of hills open to hikers and riders, close enough for an easy morning out. Thursday evenings bring the Ol' Time Country Bluegrass Jam, where local musicians play folk and bluegrass for anyone who wanders in. Cap the day at the Historic Occidental Hotel, whose saloon has hosted live music and tall tales since the frontier era.

Pinedale

Fur trappers held their summer rendezvous near here in the 1830s, and the Museum of the Mountain Man keeps that trade alive with exhibits, artifacts, and a gift shop stocked with furs and books. That history is the reason to start in Pinedale, though the Wind River Range behind town is what holds people. Climbers head for the granite spires of the Cirque of the Towers, some of the most demanding rock in the Lower 48. After dark, Half Moon Lake and Fremont Lake open up some of the clearest night skies in the state, far from any city glow. The Hampton Inn & Suites offers an indoor option, and several campgrounds are within reach of the water.

Douglas

The jackalope was born in Douglas in the 1930s, when the Herrick brothers stuck antelope horns on a jackrabbit mount, and a legend took hold. You can pose with the eight-foot statue in Jackalope Square, then pick up a novelty hunting license from the chamber of commerce. Every August, the town hosts the Wyoming State Fair, the oldest and largest fair in the state, with rides, food, and livestock exhibits. Outside town, the Laramie Mountain Range and the sandstone span of Ayres Natural Bridge give hikers somewhere to spend an afternoon. The Wyoming Pioneer Museum displays two floors of artifacts connected to early settlers and Plains Indian history, and the Sleep Inn & Suites offers a straightforward base for a night or two.

Which Wyoming Weekend Is Yours

The choice comes down to what you want the weekend to do for you. Thermopolis and its mineral water are the move if the goal is to soak and do very little else. Lander and Pinedale send you straight into the mountains, with the Wind River peaks a short drive from either downtown. Cody, Buffalo, and Sheridan trade in frontier history, from staged gunfights to a drugstore owner's collection of cowboy relics. All are small enough to slow you down, which is the point of getting away in the first place.