16 Best Sights in Jackson Hole and Northwest Wyoming, Wyoming

At this excellent museum you can learn about historic homesteaders, dude ranches, and hunters, as well as Jackson's all-female town government of yore—a woman sheriff of that era claimed to have killed three men before hanging up her spurs. Native American, ranching, and cowboy artifacts are on display, some of them at the summer-only second location at 105 North Glenwood Street.

See an impressive collection of wildlife art—most of it devoted to North American species—in 14 galleries displaying the work of artists that include Georgia O'Keeffe, John James Audubon, John Clymer, Robert Kuhn, and Carl Rungius. A deck looks out on the National Elk Refuge, where you can see wildlife in a natural habitat. An elaborate ¾-mile outdoor sculpture trail includes a monumental herd of bronze bison by Richard Loffler trudging across the butte.

South Pass City, 2 miles west of Atlantic City, was established in 1867 after gold was discovered in a creek called Sweetwater in 1842. In its heyday, by various accounts, before the gold thinned out in the 1870s, there were between 1,500 and 4,000 residents. After Sioux and Cheyenne raids, over settlers hunting indigenous game herds and miners poisoning their drinking water, the town still boomed until going bust and dropping to double digits by 1872. Its well-preserved remains are now the South Pass City State Historic Site. You can tour many of the original surviving buildings that have been restored, and you can even try your hand at gold panning. With artifacts and photographs of the town at its peak, the small museum here gives an overview of the South Pass gold district.

South Pass City has another claim to fame. Julia Bright and Esther Hobart Morris are two of the women from the community who firmly believed that women should have the right to vote. It is suspected that they encouraged Bright's husband, Representative William Bright, to introduce a bill for women's suffrage in the Wyoming Territorial Legislature. He did so, the bill was ratified, and South Pass went down in history as the birthplace of women's suffrage in Wyoming. In 1870 Morris became the first female justice of the peace in the nation, serving South Pass City.

As it travels to the summit of Rendezvous Mountain, the Aerial Tramway has always afforded spectacular panoramas of Jackson Hole. There are several hiking trails at the top of the mountain. A newer, sleeker tram was unveiled to much fanfare in 2008, and the updated "Big Red Box" remains a popular attraction even outside of ski season. Tram rides are first-come, first-served and run every 20 minutes; fees are usually discounted online. Sightseeing tickets are available in winter to nonskiers as well.

This 3.4-million-acre forest has something for everyone: history, hiking, camping, and wildlife. It encompasses the Teton Wilderness east of Grand Teton National Park and south of Yellowstone National Park, the Gros Ventre Wilderness southeast of Jackson, and the Bridger Wilderness farther south and east. No motor vehicles are allowed in the wilderness areas, but between them are many scenic drives, natural springs where you can swim or soak throughout the year, and cultural sights like abandoned lumber camps in the forest. The peaks reach higher than 13,000 feet, and the area is liberally sprinkled with more than a thousand high-mountain lakes, where fishing is generally excellent.

Contact the Bridger-Teton National Forest, Pinedale Ranger District for more information. Although outdoor activities still beckon in the forest, an oil and gas boom in the area keeps motel rooms full year-round and restaurants often busy.

About 20 miles west of Dubois, easy to moderate hiking trails lead around Brooks Lake, across alpine meadows, and through pine forest to high mountain points with expansive views of Brooks Lake Mountain and the Pinnacles. You can picnic or (in summer) hard-side camp here, and boat, fish, or swim on the lake.

Soothing thermal baths in pristine outback country await in the heart of the Bridger-Teton National Forest, just a short drive south of Jackson. Concerted local and federal efforts have preserved the wild lands in this hunter's and fisherman's paradise where ranches dot the Teton Valley floor. The Snake River turns west and the contours sheer into steep vertical faces. By Hoback Junction there's white-water excitement. The drive south along U.S. 191 provides good views of the river's bends and turns and the life-jacketed rafters and kayakers who float through the Hoback canyon. At Hoback Junction, about 11 miles south of Jackson, head east (toward Pinedale) on U.S. Highway 189/191 and follow the Hoback River east through its beautiful canyon. A tributary canyon 10 miles east of the junction is followed by a well-maintained and marked gravel road to Granite Hot Springs, in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Drive 9 miles off U.S. 189/191 (northeast) on Granite Creek Road to reach the hot springs. People also come for the shady, creek-side campground and moderate hikes up Granite Canyon to passes with panoramic views. You'll want to drive with some caution, as there are elevated turns, the possibility of a felled tree, and wandering livestock that can own the road ahead on blind curves. In winter, the road is not plowed, and access is possible only by snowmobile, dogsled, skis, or fat bike from the highway. The 93°F to 112°F thermal bath at the end of the road is pure physical therapy, but it's closed from November through mid-December.

You can spend an entire day wandering around Jackson's always-bustling Town Square, crisscrossed with walking paths and bedecked with arches woven from thousands of naturally shed elk antlers. Shops and restaurants surround the square, and there's often entertainment going on in the square itself, including a melodramatic "shoot-out" six nights per week in summer on the northeastern corner. At the southwestern corner you can board a stagecoach for a ride around the area.

Fur trappers were the first non-Native Americans to live in these parts year-round, arriving in the early 19th century when the area was the center of the Rocky Mountain fur trade. The museum celebrates that trapper history, with guns, traps, clothing, and beaver pelts from that time period. In the early summer the museum features living-history demonstrations, children's events, and lectures. In July it hosts reenactment of the Green River Rendezvous, when mountain men, Native Americans, and others got together to barter and socialize.

The local variety is known as the Rocky Mountain bighorn, but you can learn about all kinds of bighorn sheep at this nonprofit conservation center and wildlife museum about an hour east of Grand Teton National Park. Expect dioramas with full-scale taxidermy mounts that recreate bighorn habitat, as well as interactive exhibits about wildlife management and special adaptations of wild sheep. Reserve ahead for winter wildlife-viewing tours ($100) to Whiskey Mountain.

Wildlife abounds on this 25,000-acre refuge. From late November to March, more than 7,000 elk, many with enormous antler racks, winter here. Elk can be observed from various pull-outs along U.S. 191 or by slowly driving your car on the refuge's winding, unpaved roads. Other animals that make their home here include buffalo, bighorn sheep, and coyotes, as well as trumpeter swans and other waterfowl. In summer, the refuge is light on big game, but you can tour a historic homestead from June to September. From mid-December to early April, sleigh rides operated by Double H Bar (nersleighrides.com) depart several times a day from the Jackson Hole and Greater Yellowstone Visitor Center.

At Sinks Canyon State Park, the Popo Agie (pronounced "puh po sha," meaning "Tall Grass River" to the Crow Indians) flows into a limestone cavern. The crashing water "sinks" into fissures only to resurface ½ mile downstream in the "rise," where it reemerges and huge fish (mainly rainbow and brown trout) swim in the calm pool. Wildflowers, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, black bears, golden eagles, moose, mule deer, marmots, and other wildlife wander the grounds. The park is ideal for hiking, camping, and picnicking. No fishing is allowed, but visitors can toss fish food to the trout from the observation deck.

Displays here focus on Wind River tie hacks (workers who cut ties for railroads), local geology, and the archaeology of the Mountain Shoshone. Outbuildings include the town's first schoolhouse, a saddle shop, a homestead house, and a bunkhouse. The center periodically offers tours in summer to see the nearby petroglyphs. Call at least a week ahead to set up a trip.