10 Awesome Places To Visit In Wyoming: Famous Parks + Hidden Gems

Wyoming is a wild and sparsely populated landscape filled with rugged natural beauty and unique geological features. It’s most famous for being home to Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, but there’s so much more to see and do when you visit the Equality State. We’ve driven east to west through the state twice and it’s such a peaceful place to explore.

In this guide we show you 10 fantastic places to visit in Wyoming, based on our experiences.

Our Wyoming Experience

Both times we drove through Wyoming, we originated in South Dakota’s Black Hills and ended in Jackson. It’s not an official road trip, but we call it the Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone road trip route, and it’s one of our favorites in the US.

We love how one day driving from Buffalo to Cody we barely see a single car pass by in 4 hours, then the next day we’re in nature’s theme park known as Yellowstone surrounded by thousands of tourists. Next time we’re in Wyoming, we plan to get way off the beaten path on its southern borders with Colorado and Utah. Read more about us.

1. Buffalo

Buffalo is a small city located at the base of the Bighorn Mountains on the intersection of I-90 and I-25 in northern Wyoming. It’s almost exactly the halfway point between Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park, and it marks the eastern side of Cloud Peak Skyway scenic byway.

But Buffalo WY is more than just a stop gap on your road trip between the Black Hills and Yellowstone. The historic downtown includes the Occidental Hotel which hosted several legendary figures from the Wild West. It’s also a popular base for outdoor enthusiasts with an array of activities on the doorstep.

Here’s what you can do in Buffalo:

• Walk through historic downtown Buffalo
• Stay at the Historic Occidental Hotel
• Explore nearby Bighorn National Forest
• Visit the Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum
• Hike Clear Creek to the base of the Bighorns
• Shop for antiques, jewelry and art on main street
• Explore Crazy Woman Canyon

2. Cloud Peak Skyway

The Cloud Peak Skyway is a picturesque scenic byway connecting Buffalo with Ten Sleep. Also known as US-16, the Skyway is a fun road to drive across the southern portion of the mighty Bighorn Mountains. It’s filled with twists and turns, climbs and dips, stunning views and even hairpin bends like you can see in our drone photo above.

The highest point on the drive is 9,666 feet which means you’ll need to keep a close eye on weather conditions if you travel in shoulder seasons. There are a few different options for driving between the Black Hills and Yellowstone, but the Cloud Peak Skyway is our personal favorite. We especially enjoy the steep and narrow descent through tight canyons right into Ten Sleep.

Here’s what you can do:

• Stop at several Big Horn Peaks overlooks
• Grab lunch or a picnic at Meadowlark Lake
• Pull over to take photos of the awesome views
• Fly your drone to get aerial photos of the twisting roads

3. Cody

Cody is a small town in northwestern Wyoming that’s often used as a tourist base for entering Yellowstone National Park via its east entrance (Buffalo Bill scenic byway). The small town has a rich Wild West history, which you’ll find represented in its showpiece museum, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.

Cody is our favorite of the three main towns on the immediate outskirts of Yellowstone. We prefer it to Gardiner and West Yellowstone because it feels less like a resort town and more like a place where people live. We’ve stayed in Cody twice and we enjoyed walking through the town, visiting museums and exploring the Old Town Trail with its western frontier buildings.

Here’s what you can do in Cody:

• Visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West
• Use Cody as a base to explore east Yellowstone
• Walk around Buffalo Bill Dam
• Drink a beer in Buffalo Bill’s Irma Hotel bar
• Explore the Cody Firearms Museum
• Visit Cody’s Old Trail Town

4. Devils Tower National Monument

Devils Tower National Monument is a unique 867 ft tall igneous rock formation located in northeastern Wyoming near its border with South Dakota. In fact, it’s often visited as part of a South Dakota road trip because it’s so close to the Black Hills. The Devils Tower formation is made up of tall hexagonal shaped tubes with deep cracks, and it’s regarded as one of the top rock climbing destinations in the United States.

We’ve traveled the US extensively and we have to say Devils Tower is one of the most striking and peculiar natural formations we’ve seen outside of national parks. We enjoyed walking around the base of the tower and finding fun perspective photo spots of the tower, like the one from Joyner Ridge.

Here’s what you can do:

• Walk around the base of the tower on a paved footpath
• Photograph Devils Tower from Joyner Ridge
• Hike around Prairie Dog Town
• See the Wind Circle sculpture
• Outside of June you can climb the tower

READ: How to visit Devils Tower National Monument

5. Flaming Gorge National Recreational Area

Flaming Gorge is a National Recreation Area located on the border between southwest Wyoming and northeast Utah. The Green River, which eventually flows into the Colorado River, carved out a 90 mile long reservoir in the Flaming Gorge and the entire area is flanked by dramatic red canyon walls.

We think Flaming Gorge is the perfect place for the whole family to hike, mountain bike, horseback ride, photograph, jet ski, fish and tour a dam. You can also camp underneath dark skies and relax in a picturesque tourist free landscape. This is one of those photogenic but off the beaten path places that’s only quiet because of its remote location.

• Photograph stunning canyons and still rivers
• Enjoy wonderful sunrises and sunsets
• Backcountry hiking, biking and camping
• Boating, swimming, tubing and waterskiing
• Fish for trout and other species
• Tour the Flaming Gorge Dam

6. Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton is a spectacularly beautiful US National Park located one hour drive south of Yellowstone in the far northwest of Wyoming. Its visually stunning landscape is centered around the Snake River, pristine lakes and flat plains from which the rugged Teton mountain range suddenly bursts high into the sky.

We love Grand Teton because it has awesome hikes, easy camping, an abundance of wildlife and some of the most stunning photography spots in the US. It’s one of the most popular places to visit in Wyoming and we think it’s perfect for the entire family. This is one stop you simply must make if you’re driving through the Cowboy State!

Here’s what you can do in Grand Teton:

• Photograph the striking Teton mountain range
• Hike to Hidden Falls, Inspiration Point and Cascade Canyon
• Photograph the famous barns on Mormon Row at sunrise and sunset
• Drive up to Signal Mountain summit vista
• Swim, kayak and relax around Jenny Lake
• Spot Moose walking around Schwabacher Landing at sunrise

READ: Perfect 2 days Grand Teton itinerary

7. Jackson

Jackson is a popular resort town and upscale residential area in the Jackson Hole Valley region of northwest Wyoming. Most visitors to Grand Teton use Jackson as a base thanks to its quaint downtown area with shops, saloons, restaurants and hotels. Then in winter, Jackson and nearby Teton Village transform into an upmarket ski resort.

When you consider towns on the doorstep to national parks, we’d say Jackson is one of our favorites in the US. The old Wild West town is located just 15 minutes drive from the Grand Teton loop road so it’s super convenient. But the town itself is also a relaxing and fun place for the whole family to enjoy.

Here’s what you can do in Jackson:

• Eat, drink, shop and see the antler arch around Jackson Square
• Visit the National Elk Refuge
• Explore the National Museum of Wildlife Art
• Hike around the Laurance S Rockefeller Preserve
• Watch bull riders at the Jackson Hole Rodeo
• Bathe in Granite Hot Springs Pool
• Ski at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in winter

8. Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests encompasses an enormous area of north-central Colorado and south-central Wyoming. The region contains several mountain ranges including Medicine Bow Range and Laramie Mountains. And one of the most popular places to visit is called Snowy Range Pass scenic drive.

We think Medicine Bow Routt is a genuine hidden gem in Wyoming. It’s a scenic byway featuring pristine lakes, mountain hikes, stunning vistas, wildlife spotting, picnic areas and endless photography opportunities. And remember, it’s not far to Rocky Mountain National Park from Medicine Bow Routt.

Here’s what you can do:

• Drive scenic and hugely underrated Snowy Range Pass (closed Nov-May)
• Picnic at Mirror Lake and stop at several vistas
• Walk around the Libby Flats Observation Area
• Photograph the lakes and mountains at dawn or dusk
• Hike Medicine Bow Trail or West Lake Marie Trail to Medicine Bow Peak

9. Sinks Canyon State Park

Sinks Canyon State Park is a popular locals’ recreation area located at the southern end of the Wind River Mountain Range in central Wyoming. It’s so named because the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie disappears underground before resurfacing a quarter mile downstream at the Rise.

And we think Sinks Canyon is another bona fide hidden gem place to visit in Wyoming. Vibrant wildflowers bloom alongside a river that vanishes and plunges underground before bubbling back up into another pool nearby. And the older kids can even slide down a waterfall into the pool below, so it’s ideal for families.

Here’s what you can do at Sinks Canyon:

• Photograph wildflowers in bloom and waterfalls cascading over boulders
• Slide down Popo Agie Falls
• Swim in the pool and slide down the waterfall if you dare
• Go caving in Boulder Choke Cave
• Camp at one of several sites along Middle Popo Agie River
• Watch the river disappear underground
• Then see the river “rise” as it resurfaces in a trout pool

10. Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is a volcanic landscape featuring hot springs, geysers and bubbling mud pots sitting atop a caldera measuring 30 by 45 miles. The Yellowstone supervolcano has created a truly unique experience for you to see erupting geysers and vibrantly colored hot springs like nowhere else on Earth. If it’s your first visit, plan to spend 4 days in Yellowstone.

We’ve spent 7 full days in the park during trips in April and October, and we can’t argue with the notion that Yellowstone is among the most extraordinary landscapes on the planet. Millions of people each year journey here to hike, see freely roaming wildlife and photograph remarkable geothermal features. For us, Yellowstone up there with the very best places to visit in the US.

Here’s what you can do in Yellowstone:

• Spot wildlife in Lamar Valley and Hayden Valley
• Explore several geyser basins and hot springs
• Hike Mt Washburn with the family or Avalanche Peak for a challenge
• Hike to multiple waterfalls
• Watch Old Faithful erupt and see the colorful Grand Prismatic Spring
• Photograph everything!

READ: Unmissable things to do in Yellowstone

Wyoming Map

Click or touch the map above to activate. Zoom in and out, move around the map and find the locations for the top places to visit in Wyoming that we’ve listed in this guide.

You can see that lots of the icons are spread out east to west across the northern portion of Wyoming. You’d pass right by those if you drove the Mt Rushmore to Yellowstone route we mentioned earlier. Take a look though our US road trip guides here for more information.

The Morgan Conclusion

We really enjoy driving through Wyoming’s peaceful and picturesque countryside, but we’re also huge admirers of both Yellowstone and Grand Teton which are much busier. So for us, there’s a wonderful balance. Next time we head out west we’ll be visiting lesser known destinations like Medicine Bow Routt, Sinks Canyon and Flaming Gorge because they look fantastic.

Here’s our top 5 things to do if you’re a family visiting Wyoming with kids:

1. Walk around Cody’s Old Trail Town
2. Camp under the stars at Flaming Gorge
3. Visit the Elk Refuge and watch a rodeo in Jackson
4. Slide down the waterfall in Sinks Canyon State Park
5. Explore the best of Yellowstone National Park

And here’s our top 5 things to do in Wyoming for couples:

1. Hike around and photograph Devils Tower
2. Mountain bike around Flaming Gorge
3. Explore the best of Grand Teton National Park
4. Hike around stunning lakes on Snowy Range Pass
5. Hit the top attractions in Yellowstone National Park

More US States

• Best places to visit in Arizona
• Popular places to visit in Utah
• Top places to visit in Vermont

Best Of The US

• Amazing US hikes
• Bucket list US road trips
• Our favorite US national parks
• Stunning US photo spots
• Top places to visit in the US

Want more USA content? Head over to our USA travel guides to explore the best cities, national parks and road trips in America.

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We hope this Wyoming guide helps with planning your visit to the American northwest!

Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.

Happy Travels,

Mark and Kristen

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