50 Best Sights in Cody, Sheridan, and Northern Wyoming, Wyoming

This extraordinary "five-in-one" complex, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, contains the Buffalo Bill Museum, the Whitney Western Art Museum, the Plains Indian Museum, the Cody Firearms Museum, and the Draper Natural History Museum. All are well organized and mount superb exhibitions in their respective subject areas. The flagship Buffalo Bill Museum puts into context the life, era, and activities of its (and its town's) namesake, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody (1846–1917), whose numerous careers included guide, scout, actor, and entrepreneur. If you want to understand how the myth of the American West developed, this is the place to come. The other four museums—there's also a research library—are equally absorbing. Plan to spend at least four hours here—and to discover that this isn't enough time to take it all in. Luckily, your admission ticket is good for two consecutive days.

In 1877 a few members of the Nez Perce tribe killed some white settlers in Idaho as retribution for earlier killings by whites. Fearing that the U.S. Army would punish the guilty and innocent alike, hundreds of Nez Perce fled on a five-month journey toward Canada along what came to be known as the Nez Perce Trail. On the way they passed through what is now Yellowstone National Park, across the Sunlight Basin area north of Cody, and along the Clarks Fork of the Shoshone River before turning north into Montana. To see the rugged mountain area they traveled through, follow Highway 120 north 17 miles to Highway 296, the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. The highway twists and turns for 46 miles, ending at similarly stunning U.S. 212, the Beartooth Scenic Highway, which leads west to the pretty hamlet of Cooke City, Montana and then the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone, or east to the small ski and hiking hub of Red Lodge. Along the way you'll see open meadows, pine forests, and a sweeping vista of the region from the top of Dead Indian Pass.

Begun in 1938 and billing itself the world's longest-running nightly rodeo, this festive, family-friendly summer spectacle at Stampede Park is less flashy and more endearingly intimate than bigger rodeos around the region, such as Cheyenne Frontier Days. Kicking off at 8 pm each evening from June through August, the Cody Nite Rodeo offers kids' competitions, such as goat roping and junior barrel racing, in addition to the regular adult events. Over early July's Independence Day weekend, the annual Cody Stampede features a full long weekend of events at the same venue.

As you drive east from Gillette, the highways begin to rise into the forested slopes of the Black Hills. A detour north will take you to Devils Tower. Geologists attribute the butte's strange existence to ancient volcanic activity. Rock climbers say it's one of the best crack-climbing areas on the continent. The tower was a tourist magnet long before a spaceship landed here in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Teddy Roosevelt made it the nation's first national monument in 1906, and it has attracted a steadily increasing throng of visitors ever since—up to nearly half a million people a year.

When you visit, take some time to stop at the visitor center. Exhibits here explain the geology, history, and cultural significance of the monument, and a bookstore carries a wide selection of materials relating to the park. Park rangers can provide updated information on hiking and climbing conditions. A short and easy walking path circles the tower.

The land that became Wyoming's first state park in 1897 had always been sacred to Native Americans because of its healing natural hot springs. You can partake of these waters by soaking indoors or outside at the free 104°F mineral pools at the State Bath House, which is a central feature of this impressive 1,104-acre park that's also home to two waterparks (which charge admission fees) with more indoor and outdoor hot mineral pools, waterslides, and other amusements. You can also hike or bike on 6 miles of trails, view the park's sizable bison herd, traipse across a swinging suspension bridge that traverses the Big Horn River, offering views of the dramatic travertine mineral terraces.

The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum is the kind of small-town museum that's worth stopping for if you're interested in the frontier history of the region, including the Johnson County Cattle War. It contains Native American, military, outlaw, and ranching artifacts collected by a local pharmacist who was a close friend of area Native Americans. The museum completed a $300,000 renovation project in 2011. Visitors will discover new exhibits and interpretive opportunities.

A ring of rocks 75 feet in diameter, this ancient site is the best preserved of nearly 150 Native American stone wheels found in Wyoming, South Dakota, Montana, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Evidence such as the 28 spokes (one for each day of the lunar cycle) leading from the edge of the wheel to a central cairn has persuaded some that the wheel was an ancient spiritual observatory much like England's Stonehenge may have been. To protect the area, access to the wheel is restricted to foot travel; it's a 1½-mile hike on a well-maintained unpaved road to the site from the parking lot (people with disabilities may drive to the site). Up in the Big Horn Mountains, at an elevation of 9,642 feet, the site affords views of the entire Big Horn Basin. Dress warmly, as it's cool up here, even in summer.

Five major immigrant trails passed near or through Casper between 1843 and 1870. The best-known are the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail, both of which crossed the North Platte River in the vicinity of today's Casper. The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center examines the early history of the trails and the military's role in central Wyoming. Projected onto a series of screens 11 feet high and 55 feet wide, a film shows Wyoming trail sites and scenes of wagon travelers. You can climb into a wagon to see what it was like to cross the river, or learn about Mormon pioneers who traveled west with handcarts in 1856.

Evidence of the area's old-world ties can be found at the Sheridan Inn, just a few blocks from downtown near the old railroad depot. Modeled after a hunting lodge in Scotland, the 1893 building sports 69 gables in a show of architectural splendor not often seen around these parts. On the National Register of Historic Places, the inn once lured the likes of Herbert Hoover, Will Rogers, and Ernest Hemingway, and Buffalo Bill auditioned performers here for his Wild West Show. The Inn underwent a $4.8 million restoration from 2006 to 2009, employing "green" technologies, and an additional $2.8 million was spent in 2010 to refurbish the 22 guest rooms. The original Buffalo Bill Bar, an oak-and-mahogany monstrosity on the main floor, is purported to be a gift sent from England by Queen Victoria.

Casper College's Tate Geological Museum in the Tate Earth Science Center displays fossils, rocks, jade, and the fossilized remains of a brontosaurus, plus other dinosaur bones. The centerpiece for the Tate is Dee, an 11,600-year-old Columbian Mammoth. Dee is one of the largest complete Columbian Mammoths ever discovered.

Among the nearly 60 dinosaur skeletons displayed at this nonprofit museum and research center is the winged "Thermopolis Specimen," the only Archaeopteryx exhibited outside of Europe, and "Stan," one of the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeletons in the world, measuring 35 feet long and weighing in at nearly 6 tons. Special full-day programs allow kids and adults to try their hand at paleontology by digging in one of the several active dinosaur sites nearby (some 10,000 dinosaur bones have been excavated in the vicinity since 1993). Tours of the dig site are also offered daily in summer.

Overland immigrants sometimes visited a rock outcrop that spans LaPrele Creek. It's now a small but popular picnic area and campsite where you can wade in the creek or simply enjoy the quiet. No pets are allowed at the campsite.

To learn about this 120,000-acre national park wilderness that was established in 1966 following the creation of Yellowtail Dam, visit the South District's Cal Taggart Visitor Center in Lovell, where you can view geological and historical exhibits on the area, as well as a film about the canyon. Two shorter movies, one on the Pryor Mountain wild horses and the other about Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark (east of Lovell), are shown on request, and there's a small gift and bookshop. The park's South District is reached by heading north on Highway 37 east of Lovell and encompasses Horseshoe Bend Marina, Devil Canyon Overlook, 12 hiking trails (in both Wyoming and southern Montana), four historic ranches that you can tour on your own, and three campgrounds. The park's North District is 120 miles north, in Fort Smith, Montana. Note that part of the park near Lovell is adjacent to Yellowtail Wildlife Management Area at the southern end of Bighorn Lake. More than 155 species of birds—including white pelicans, pheasants, bald eagles, and great blue herons—inhabit the 19,424-acre refuge, as do numerous other animal species, including red fox, mule deer, and cottontail rabbits.

Big Horn is an access point to the 1.1-million-acre area, which has lush grasslands, alpine meadows, rugged mountaintops, canyons, and deserts. There are numerous hiking trails and camping spots for use in the summer, and it's a popular snowmobiling area in the winter.

A hand-hewn-log blacksmith shop, built in 1879 to serve pioneers on their way to the goldfields of Montana, houses the Bozeman Trail Museum, the town's historical repository and interpretive center. The jewel of its collection is the Cloud Peak Boulder, a stone with names and dates apparently carved by military scouts just two days before the Battle of the Little Bighorn, which was fought less than 100 miles to the north in 1876. The staff is very friendly to children, and there are some old pipe organs that kids are encouraged to play.

About 6 miles west of downtown on U.S. 14, you'll pass through the Shoshone Canyon Tunnel (the state's largest, at 2.8 miles) and emerge at the northeast end of Buffalo Bill Reservoir, which was formed in 1910 by the construction of a 350-foot-tall dam. The reservoir, which is popular for boating and fishing, forms the heart of Buffalo Bill State Park, which also has a campground and picnic area. Just after exiting the tunnel, you can also stop by the visitor center operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, where you can peer over this immense dam from a viewing platform, and watch a film and explore exhibits on this impressive feat of engineering and the region's natural and human history.

The Casper Planetarium has multimedia programs on astronomy. There are also interactive exhibits in the lobby and a gift shop. Public programs, which last an hour, are scheduled regularly year-round.

These hour-long tours on vintage trolley–style buses travel 22 miles and cover Cody's history dating back to the late-19th-century era of Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. Tours start at the fabled Irma Hotel, named for Buffalo Bill's daughter, and take in historic sites, scenery, and wildlife and other natural attractions. On summer evenings (except Sunday) at 6, stay to watch the amusing if cheesy 30-minute mock gunfights staged outside the Irma. The "Inside & Out Combo" package includes the tour and two-day admission to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

Edness Kimball Wilkins State Park is a day-use area with picnicking, swimming, fishing, and a 3-mile walking path. This park is along a migratory flyway, with more than 100 different species of birds frequenting the area. For this reason, Edness Kimball State Park has been designated one of Audubon Wyoming’s important bird areas.

The Fetterman Massacre Monument is a rock monolith dedicated to the memory of Lieutenant William J. Fetterman and his 80 men, who died in a December 21, 1866, battle against Lakota-Sioux warriors. Today, an interpretive trail with 21 signs spans the entire length of the battlefield, explaining the combatants, leaders, weapons, tactics, positions, and theories of a battle that lasted all of 30 minutes. This was the worst defeat for the U.S military on the Northern Plains until the Little Big Horn battle a decade later. Five miles west of the Fetterman site is the site of the Wagon Box Fight, which also has a short interpretive trail. Fort Phil Kearny is the starting point for both battle sites, providing brochures, guides, and an overview of the history of Red Cloud's War.

The Fort Caspar Historic Site re-creates the post at Platte Bridge, which became Fort Caspar after the July 1865 battle that claimed the lives of several soldiers, including Lieutenant Caspar Collins. A post depicts life at a frontier station in the 1860s, and sometimes soldier reenactors go about their tasks. Museum exhibits show the migration trails.

Built in 1867 to protect travelers headed west, the army post here is preserved today as the Fort Fetterman State Historic Site. Although the fort was never very large and had difficulty keeping its soldiers from deserting, its location on the fringes of the Great Sioux Indian Reservation made it an important outpost of civilization on the Western frontier. After white settlers overran the Black Hills and the government did away with the reservation, soldiers from here helped end armed Plains Indian resistance—and thus put an end to the fort's usefulness. Two buildings, the ordnance warehouse and officers' quarters, survived decades of abandonment and today house interpretive exhibits and artifacts related to the area's history and the fort's role in settling the West. The remains of other fort buildings can still be seen, as can the ruins of Fetterman City, which died out when Douglas was founded several miles to the south.

Fort Phil Kearny State Historic Site was the focal point of Red Cloud's War, and Phil Kearny was probably the most fought-over fort in the West. This is the largest 8-foot stockaded, Hollywood-style fort ever built by the U.S. military, covering 17 acres; it experienced almost daily skirmishing against Cheyenne or Lakota warriors. Its location eventually led to major battles, including the December 21, 1866, Fetterman Fight, in which 81 soldiers were killed (the only time in American military history that a whole command was defeated to the last man) and the August 2, 1867, Wagon Box Fight, in which 32 men held their position in a daylong fight against more than 800 Lakota. This battle was considered a victory by both sides.

The fort's mission was to protect travelers on the Bozeman Trail going to the goldfields in southern Montana. However, there are theories that it may have been placed in what were the last and best hunting grounds of the Northern Plains tribes in order to draw them away from the railroad construction across southern Wyoming that was occurring at the same time. In the fall of 1868 the U.S. government signed the Fort Laramie Treaty, ending Red Cloud's War—the only war Native Americans won against the United States. The treaty closed the Bozeman Trail, making all the land between the Black Hill and Big Horn Mountains, and the land between the Yellowstone and North Platte rivers, unceded Indian land where whites could not go. However, it also for the first time established Indian Agencies along the Missouri River for the different Lakota tribes. So, although the Indians won the war, they lost the peace. As part of the treaty, Fort Phil Kearny was abandoned in August 1868. Within two weeks, it is believed, Cheyenne, under Two Moon, occupied and then burned the fort to the ground. No original buildings remain at the site, but fort building locations are marked, and the visitor center has good details. The stockade around the fort was re-created after archaeological digs in 1999.

The Cody Mural, at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, presents a larger-than-life artistic interpretation of Mormon settlement in the West. Edward Grigware painted the 36-foot-diameter scene on the domed ceiling in the 1950s. A small museum contains historical artifacts as well as interactive kiosks where visitors can explore their genealogy.

You can fish, boat, swim, and camp at Keyhole State Park. Bird-watching is a favorite activity here, as up to 225 species can be seen on the grounds. The park is 45 miles east of Gillette and 20 miles south of Devils Tower.