1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (83 page)

The kitschy Wall Drug Store is packed to the rafters with interesting artifacts and souvenirs.

W
HERE
: 52 miles southeast of Rapid City; 510 Main St. Tel 605–279-2175;
www.walldrug.com
.
B
EST TIMES
: spring and fall for weather.

Scenic Byways over the Wyoming Horizon

Wyoming

The Bighorn Mountains rise unexpectedly out of the plains, a soaring, crag-crowned plateau with high-elevation lakes, deep canyons and waterfalls, and one of the most mysterious archaeological formations in North America:
the Medicine Wheel, an ancient American Indian sacred and ceremonial site. Three roads climb and switchback across the Bighorns, each road gorgeous enough to have been designated a national scenic byway. With that triple-whammy stamp of approval, don’t expect anything subtle about this unusual mountain range, a massive block of limestone and granite pushed up like an enormous molar from the plains.

The Bighorn Scenic Byway (Highway 14) climbs from rangeland, up through pine forests, quickly reaching subalpine meadows at the range’s crest, all dominated by rough peaks and dizzying outcrops reaching over 13,000 feet. Near the highway’s summit is Burgess Junction and a Forest Service visitors center, where in summer you’ll face two choices.

The first option is to continue on Highway 14, dropping down from the summit through the dramatic red-cliffed Shell Canyon, named for 550-million-year-old shell fossils (some of the earliest crustacean fossils ever found) discovered in this valley.

The second route down from Burgess Junction is the summer-only Highway 14A, the Medicine Wheel Passage Scenic Byway, alleged to be the most expensive stretch of road in the U.S. (it was an engineering feat to wedge the road into such extreme gradients, so drivers must be prudent, and large or heavy vehicles should avoid this road). As the byway crosses the summit plateau, a side trail leads toward the Medicine Wheel. This 80-foot-wide wagon wheel of stone is over 700 years old, with 28 rock spokes radiating out from a central hub and six smaller rock cairns arranged around the rim. Experts disagree on its traditional purpose, but modern-day American Indians still come here for ceremonies.

The Medicine Wheel sits at an elevation of 9,642 feet on Medicine Mountain.

The Cloud Peak Skyway (Highway 16) charts a more southerly passage through the Bighorns, along an old wagon road that passes vintage cabin resorts and campgrounds, some by Meadowlark Lake, a lovely tree-lined lake ringed by regal peaks. At the foot of the Bighorns off Highway 14, where the plains roll up to meet the Shell Valley, the century-old Flitner Ranch spreads across 250,000 acres. When this fourth-generation ranch decided to open its 1,200-head cattle operation to guests in the 1990s, the Flitner family built a “hideout” with upscale guest cabins, a commanding central lodge, and gourmet chefs. What they didn’t change was the authentic nature of the ranch itself. While you may choose to fish, hike, or ride trails through the foothills and prairie badlands, you can also join the ranch hands in honest, unvarnished ranch work such as cattle wrangling and calf branding.

W
HERE
: Bighorn National Forest is 65 miles east of Cody.
Visitor info:
Tel 307–674-2600;
www.fs.fed.us/r2/bighorn
.
S
CENIC
B
YWAYS
I
NFO
:
www.byways.org
.
When:
byways open year-round, except for Hwy. 14A, which is generally open late May–mid-Oct.
H
IDEOUT AT
F
LITNER
R
ANCH
: Shell. Tel 800–354-8637 or 307–765-9239;
www.thehideout.com
.
Cost:
4 nights from $1,550 (off-peak) per person, includes meals, lodging, and on-premises activities.
When:
open May–Oct.
B
EST TIMES
: June–Sept for weather; June for wildflowers; July and Aug for on-site interpreters at the Medicine Wheel.

Wild Mustangs in Canyon Country

Wyoming

The Bighorn River flows north through Wyoming ranch country, a blue ribbon coursing between irrigated fields and dusty cattle pastures. Then, as it approaches the Montana border, the Bighorn begins to trench deeply
through an uplift of limestone, cutting one of the grandest canyons in the northern U.S. The river’s Yellowtail Dam, 45 miles north in Montana, backs up magnificent Bighorn Lake through over 70 miles of this ruggedly beautiful canyon, with sheer bluffs rising to 2,250 feet above the surface. The area is relatively untrammeled, but its strikingly dramatic landscapes, recreational opportunities, fascinating history, and unusual wildlife—the nation’s first wild mustang preserve is adjacent to the canyon—make it a treasure awaiting discovery.

The 120,000-acre Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, established in 1966, preserves the canyon and straddles the northern
Wyoming and southern Montana borders, with visitors centers in Fort Smith, Montana, and in Lovell, Wyoming. However, in Montana the recreation area is surrounded by the 2-million-acre Crow Indian Reservation, to which nontribal members have very limited access.

Wyoming’s south district has the most dramatic views onto the canyon, particularly at Horseshoe Bend, where a wide expanse of the lake passes into Bighorn Canyon to the north, and at Devil Canyon, where sheer 1,000-foot-high cliffs tower above the lake. The park road also crosses into the 31,000-acre Pryor Mountains Wild Horse Range, where one of America’s last herds of wild mustangs runs free. In the mid-1960s, public concern became focused on about 200 wild horses living in the Pryors, a vestige of larger herds that once roamed the remote areas of the West. In 1968 the Secretary of the Interior established the first-of-its-kind preserve along the Montana-Wyoming border.

These herds represent a genetically unique population, closely related to original European breeds brought over by 16th-century Spanish explorers. Identify them by their unusual coloring and markings, particularly dark stripes on the back and zebralike stripes on the legs. You can usually spot wild mustangs in their stallion-led herds along the park road, but for those with a high-clearance vehicle, the meadows of the Pryor Mountains—a range of low, greatly eroded fault blocks that rise just west of Bighorn Canyon—are a more memorable place to see them.

W
HERE
: Lovell is 45 miles northeast of Cody.
Visitor info:
Tel 307–548-7552;
www.lovellchamber.com
.
B
IGHORN
R
ECREATION
A
REA
: Tel 307–548-2251;
www.nps.gov/bica
.
P
RYOR
M
OUNTAINS
W
ILD
H
ORSE
R
ANGE
: Lovell. Tel 406–896-5013;
www.mt.blm.gov/bifo/whb
.
B
EST TIMES
: May–June for warm but not hot weather, wildflowers, and mustang foals.

The Daddy of All Rodeos

Cheyenne, Wyoming

The Cowboy State’s capital city was once nicknamed Hell on Wheels, and during the annual ride-’em-cowboy Frontier Days you’ll understand why. The rodeo and its surrounding celebration of all things Western was first
held in 1897, a mere 15 years after William F. Cody, aka “Buffalo Bill,” created the rodeo tradition with his traveling Wild West Show. Today it’s a no less vital ten-day carnival of rodeos, wild-horse races, marching bands, concerts, inter-tribal Indian dancing, a chuck-wagon cook-off, and a parade that’s been led by some memorable names over the years—Buffalo Bill himself in 1898, and an enthusiastic Teddy Roosevelt in 1910. The event’s rollicking, can’t-be-contained atmosphere extends to its famous free pancake breakfasts, at which 30,000 guests consume more than 100,000 flapjacks (cooked on military ranges, though not really mixed in a cement truck, as legend has it), 475 gallons of syrup, and 520 gallons of coffee.

In the burgeoning world of rodeo, Frontier Days is known as “The Daddy of ’em All,” and for good reason. Frontier Days brings upward of 500,000 visitors to Cheyenne every year, many decked out in their finest Western wear, plus more than 1,800 of the toughest cowboys and cowgirls from across the nation.

If you have a hankering for more genteel pursuits, Frontier Days has a more sophisticated side. For more than 20 years, the celebration has included an art show and sale featuring the work of dozens of Western and wildlife artists, carvers, and Navajo weavers. Cheyenne’s Victorian opulence is on display today in the stretch of 17th Street known as “Cattle Baron’s Row.” To experience the magnificent residential architecture at length and in detail (think ornate woodwork, exquisite stained glass, and period decor) and to indulge like a gentleman rancher from another age, arrange a stay at Nagle Warren Mansion B&B, situated in the meticulously restored home of a former governor and U.S. senator.

W
HERE
: 100 miles north of Denver, CO; Arena at Frontier Park. Tel 800–227-6336 or 307–778-7222;
www.cfdrodeo.com
.
Cost:
rodeos from $11; concert tickets from $17.
When:
10 days in late July.
N
AGLE
W
ARREN
M
ANSION
B&B
: Tel 800–811-2610 or 307–637-3333;
www.naglewarrenmansion.com
.
Cost:
from $118.
B
EST TIME
: Wed for an aerial performance by the Thunderbirds U.S. Air Force drill team.

Paean to a Great Showman, and Old West Gateway to Yellowstone

Wyoming

William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody was one of the most famous men of the late 19th century—literally a legend in his time—after parlaying his experience as a Pony Express rider, fur trapper, gold miner, and
Army scout into a highly profitable Wild West show. Like some of today’s bold-faced names, he was caught up in real estate speculation—including a scheme to create an agricultural and tourism center just west of then brand-new Yellowstone National Park (see p. 676).

Today Cody is one of the premier tourist towns in Wyoming, famed for its Old West atmosphere, its rodeos and shoot-’em-up entertainment, and its high-end Western art scene.

The top attraction in Cody’s namesake town is the 300,000-square-foot Buffalo Bill Historical Center, one of the nation’s most comprehensive collections of Western Americana, often referred to as the “Smithsonian of the West.” A complex of five different museums, the center includes thousands of artifacts and works of art. One of the museums focuses on Cody and his life, another on the natural history of Yellowstone’s ecosystem, and another features a collection of more than 4,000 vintage firearms and weapons. Many favor the Whitney Gallery of Western Art—a collection of paintings and sculpture by artists ranging from Frederic Remington and Charlie Russell to contemporary painters. Also fascinating is the Plains Indian Museum, a showcase of regional Native culture.

Cody also serves as the eastern gateway to Yellowstone National Park, just an hour to the west. Teddy Roosevelt called the road there “the most scenic 50 miles in the U.S.” As Highway 14/16/20—also called the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway—climbs from Cody toward Yellowstone, it follows the North Fork Shoshone River through an astounding landscape of volcanic spires and cliffs, intermixed with ponderosa pine forests and sagebrush, and promises substantial wildlife sightings.

During summer, Cody is alive with travelers passing to and from Yellowstone, and the town erupts with enough festivals and events to
make ol’ Buffalo Bill blush. Cody Nite Rodeo, held nightly in summer, pits broncos and bulls against cowboys; the rodeo season climaxes the first four days of July, at the world-famous Cody Stampede, one of the West’s top rodeos. In mid-June, the Plains Indian Powwow is a celebration of American Indian culture with singing and dancing competitions, plus lots of food and crafts booths. Or for a break from Cody’s pervasive Old West theme, try the Yellowstone Jazz Festival, held in mid-July.

There’s also free nightly entertainment on the steps of the Irma Hotel (once owned by Buffalo Bill himself): a mock shootout between the good and bad guys, all in ten-gallon hats. The Irma, built in 1902 and named after Cody’s daughter, is the town’s grand downtown hotel and boasts wall-to-wall Western charm—you’ll want to swagger in for a steak or a drink at the hotel’s elaborate cherrywood bar (a personal gift from Queen Victoria to Buffalo Bill). The antiques-rich rooms here don’t offer the latest in ultramodern amenities, but if you upgrade to a suite (perhaps Buffalo Bill’s own private suite—just avoid the 1970s motel rooms out back) you will enjoy a night of authentic Western atmosphere.