Wyoming Holidays & Accommodation
USA, North America
Wyoming has two contrasting nicknames, the Cowboy State and the Equality State. The Cowboy State has to do with its reputation for rodeos and cowboy culture, and the nickname graces the state quarter, while the Equality State designation has to do with the fact that Wyoming was the first state to grant women the vote in 1869. This was so that Wyoming could get the minimum votes required for statehood, but they continued the trend by being the first state to have women serve on juries and other landmark decisions. Wyoming has a lot to offer the visitor. The Grand Teton Range, a spectacular mountain range is located in the west of the state has plenty of wonderful hiking and outdoor activities for the dedicated outdoor enthusiast. Much of the famous Yellowstone Park is also located in Wyoming and you can access the South and East entrances to the park in the state.
Wyoming Holidays Planner
Grand Teton National Park is over 130,000 hectares in size, and has over 11,000 years in history of human occupation, tracing back to the first nomadic hunter-gatherer Paleo-Indians who would migrate to the area during the summer for the food and supplies. Later, the area became crucial to fur traders operating in the area.
The park was established in 1929, and Jackson Hole, a valley of steep sides in the middle of the park was originally in private hands, but thanks to a campaign of publicly minded conservationists led by John D. Rockefeller who bought up the land, Jackson Hole National Monument was established in 1943.
Today the park is host to many hiking, camping, and fishing opportunities for visitors. The highest mountain in the range, Grand Teton at 4 199 m is located in the park. The park features beautiful alpine lakes with spectacular canyons and the Snake River flows north to south through the park offering great white water rafting opportunities. The park plays host to a great abundance of wildlife like bison, moose, bears, deer, and elusive mountain lions.
Yellowstone Park, also host to a great abundance of wildlife, straddles the border of Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. It attracts a great many visitors every year, primarily because it is centred over the Yellowstone caldera, the largest active supervolcano on the continent that fosters geothermal features throughout the park like Old Faithful, a geyser in the park. Native Americans have lived in the park for over 11 000 years, but the Wyoming entrances to the park are only open to wheeled vehicles in the spring, summer, and autumn.
Rodeos are a popular attraction throughout Wyoming; you can attend rodeos all through the state like the Annual Cody Stampede and the Lander Pioneer Days Rodeo, or the Frontier Days Rodeo in July in the capital of Cheyenne. You can explore the Legend Rock Petroglyphs of a mysterious origin, but deemed to be an example of Dinwoody Rock Art in Hot Springs State Park. You can also view the sacred Medicine Wheel Passage in the Bighorn National Forest, dated to about 300-800 years ago and maintained by various Native American groups since then, for its deep spiritual significance. Passing through Wyoming is also the Nez Perce Trail, which marks the 1170 mile route that a group of Native Americans took in 1877 while fleeing treaty negotiations before surrendering just before reaching the Canadian border.