Wyoming

Wyoming is the heart of the American West — Yellowstone's geysers and the Teton peaks — offering hiking, backpacking the Wind River Range, wildlife watching, climbing, fly-fishing, and skiing at Jackson Hole. Devils Tower draws climbers, and the National Elk Refuge winters thousands of elk.

The Beartooth Highway and the Snowy Range add high-country drama.

Summer (July–September) is prime for the mountains and parks, with full access to Yellowstone. Fall brings the elk rut and golden aspens; winter offers skiing, Yellowstone snowcoach tours, and the National Elk Refuge sleigh rides.

Grizzly and black bears, gray wolves, bison, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, and pronghorn (Wyoming has more pronghorn than people) inhabit the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the last nearly intact temperate ecosystems on Earth, with the longest big-game migrations in the Lower 48.

From geothermal basins and montane forest to alpine tundra, sagebrush steppe, and shortgrass plains, Wyoming holds vast, largely undeveloped wildlands and critical wildlife migration corridors, including the 'Path of the Pronghorn.'

The Rocky Mountains rise across Wyoming — the Yellowstone supervolcano with its geysers, the sharp fault-block Tetons, the granite Wind Rivers (where 13,809-ft Gannett Peak is the state high point), and Devils Tower's igneous column — amid high basins and the Great Plains.

The Shoshone, Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, and Lakota peoples inhabited this land; the Wind River Reservation remains home to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho. Wyoming became the 44th state in 1890 and was the first to grant women the vote — the 'Equality State.'

A deep cowboy and ranching heritage, the world's first national park, a strong fly-fishing and backcountry tradition, and Jackson Hole's resort culture define Wyoming's outdoors.

Anchoring the Greater Yellowstone and Yellowstone-to-Yukon visions, Wyoming's conservation centers on wildlife migration corridors, grizzly and wolf recovery, bison, and sage-grouse habitat.

Jackson Hole Airport (JAC, inside Grand Teton), Cody, and Casper serve the west; the parks connect via the Rockefeller Parkway. Distances are vast, most Yellowstone roads close to cars in winter, and a vehicle is essential.

Serious grizzly country requires bear spray and food storage; Yellowstone's thermal areas are deadly (stay on boardwalks), bison injure more visitors than any animal (keep your distance), and altitude and fast mountain weather demand preparation.

State parks charge a fee, and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department administers hunting and fishing; Yellowstone and Grand Teton require entrance passes, and backcountry trips require permits.

Carry bear spray, never leave the boardwalks in geyser areas, and keep legal distances from wildlife (100 yards from bears/wolves, 25 from bison/elk).

Visit Yellowstone's thermal basins and wildlife valleys at dawn, always carry bear spray, and never leave the boardwalks. Reserve park lodging far ahead, and explore the Tetons and Wind Rivers for world-class hiking.

Wyoming borders Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nebraska, and South Dakota, linking Yellowstone, the Tetons, the Wind Rivers, and the Black Hills.