Northwest > Wyoming

Places to See in Wyoming

Colin Faulkingham, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted

Devils Tower National Monument

Butte composed of igneous rock in the Black Hills, in northeastern Wyoming, rising 1,267 feet above the Belle Fourche River, standing 867 feet from summit to base

Jon Sullivan, PD Photo., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted

Grand Teton National Park

National park 10 miles (16 km) south of Yellowstone, includes the major peaks of the 40-mile-long (64 km) Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole

Mlewis2005, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted

Jackson, WY

Town in the Jackson Hole valley is a popular tourist destination due to its proximity to the ski resorts as well as Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Park

Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted

Landmarks and Landscapes

Buffalo Bill Center of the West · Cirque of the Towers · Green River Lakes · Hot Springs State Park · Pinedale, WY

Fredlyfish4, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted

Wind River Range

Mountain range of the Rocky Mountains and the vast wilderness areas in western Wyoming is a popular recreation destination attracting hikers, climbers and skiers

Tigerzeng, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted

Yellowstone National Park

The first national park in the U.S. and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world, the park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful geyser

Overview

Wyoming is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. The 10th largest state by area, it is also the least populous and least densely populated state in the contiguous United States. The state capital and the most populous city is Cheyenne.

Wyoming's western half is mostly covered by the ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the eastern half of the state is high-elevation prairie called the High Plains. Federal lands include two national parks—Grand Teton and Yellowstone—two national recreation areas, two national monuments, several national forests, historic sites, fish hatcheries, and wildlife refuges.

Natural landforms

The Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming. The state is a great plateau broken by many mountain ranges. Surface elevations range from the summit of Gannett Peak in the Wind River Mountain Range, at 13,804 feet (4,207 m), to the Belle Fourche River valley in the state's northeast corner, at 3,125 feet (952 m). In the northwest are the Absaroka, Owl Creek, Gros Ventre, Wind River, and the Teton ranges. In the north central are the Big Horn Mountains; in the northeast, the Black Hills; and in the southern region the Laramie, Snowy, and Sierra Madre ranges.

The Teton Range in the northwest extends for 50 miles (80 km), part of which is included in Grand Teton National Park. The park includes the Grand Teton, the second highest peak in the state.

The Continental Divide spans north-south across the central portion of the state. Rivers east of the divide drain into the Missouri River Basin and eventually the Gulf of Mexico. They are the North Platte, Wind, Big Horn and the Yellowstone rivers. The Snake River in northwest Wyoming eventually drains into the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean, as does the Green River through the Colorado River Basin.

The key tourist attractions in Wyoming include Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Devils Tower National Monument, Independence Rock and Fossil Butte National Monument. Each year Yellowstone National Park, the world's first national park, receives three million visitors.

Wyoming is home to 12 ski resorts, including Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole.

National parks

• Grand Teton National Park
• Yellowstone National Park—first designated national park in the world

• The John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway connects Yellowstone and Grand Teton

• Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
• Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area (managed by the Forest Service as part of Ashley National Forest)

• Devils Tower National Monument—first national monument in the U.S.
• Fossil Butte National Monument

• California National Historic Trail
• Fort Laramie National Historic Site
• Independence Rock National Historic Landmark
• Medicine Wheel/Medicine Mountain National Historic Landmark
• Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail
• Oregon National Historic Trail
• Pony Express National Historic Trail

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Wyoming", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0