Cheyenne

The Wyoming State Museum collects, preserves, and exhibits artifacts relating to the human and natural history of Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West. Its permanent exhibits present Wyoming's history from its earliest beginnings. The museum offers unique family attractions, including the "Hands-on Habitat" featuring prairie dog holes, roasting s'mores around the campfire, as well as pelts and skulls of many animals native to Wyoming. Admission is free.

Address: Wyoming State Museum, Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82002, Phone: 307-777-7022

The Nelson Museum of the West exhibits the broad spectrum of western culture throughout its human history, covering cowboys, Native Americans, and the United States Military. Including a 4,000 book library, the museum has over 14,000 items in its important collection. There are displays of art by the Pueblo and Plains Indians, utilitarian objects of coastal Indians and Inuit, fine art by the west’s most famous artists, and a Mexican exhibit showing decorative sombreros, clothing, and silver-mounted spurs and saddles. There is a room decorated with the artifacts of a Wyoming cattle baron, and an entire western sherrif’s office from the 1920s, along with information about criminals that were apprehended by Sherrif George Carroll.

Address: The Nelson Museum of the West, 1714 Carey Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82001, Phone: 307-635-7670

Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum traces and educates guests about the history and culture of Cheyenne’s annual Frontier Days. It houses one of the United States’ largest collection of carriages, a fine collection of Western American art, as well as historic clothing and artifacts. The museum has a research facility for use by scholars of the American West, an interactive children’s gallery where kids can learn to rope cattle and paint on hide in a safe environment, and summer camps. The camps are for children aged 5-12, and can be attended by the week or by the day. Advanced Western art camps are geared towards interested 10-14 year olds. School groups are welcome.

Address: Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, 4610 Carey Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82001, Phone: 307-778-7290

What to do if you are traveling with kids:

Cheyenne Botanic Gardens have diverse collections, landscapes, and plants, and place a high regard on volunteerism, as most of the garden’s maintenance is done by volunteers. The Gardens specifically look for volunteers who are senior citizens, or disabled, or who are at-risk youth, with hopes that they will be affected positively by the therapeutic value of gardening.

The Gardens grow hundreds of varieties of roses, have an herb garden containing both culinary and medicinal herbs, and even a small cactus garden which grows in a dry corner of the parking lot. There is a garden labyrinth, and two community gardens where Cheyenne citizens may grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs. The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens are in the beginning stages of growing a 62-acre arboretum. More info

Address: 710 S. Lions Park Drive, Cheyenne, WY 82001, Phone: 307-637-6458

Cheyenne Depot Museum, built in 1887, is one of the last great depots remaining from the golden age of train travel, and is representative of the opening of the American West to mechanized travel. This landmark building tells the story of the beginnings of Cheyenne during the building of the Transcontinental Railroad in the 19th century. The Cheyenne Depot houses a renowned model train, and two historic steam engines: The 844 Steam King, which was the last steam engine built for the Union Pacific Railway, and Challenger 3985, which is the largest operating steam engine in the world. The gracious lobby of the museum can be rented for special events, such as weddings, reunions, and lectures.

Address: Cheyenne Depot Museum, 121 West 15th Street, Cheyenne, WY 82001, Phone: 307-632-3905

The Paul Smith Children’s Village is an exciting component of the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens aimed at young people. Named for a former board member and gardening aficionado, the village first came to life during the Depression era as part of the WPA job-training program. It aims to teach children about gardening and sustainability in a fun and educational way. There are ponds to wade in, teepees to play in, sand for building castles, weekly story time, innovative craft classes, and there is even a secret garden with a puppet theater. All of the gardens teach about sustainability and are interactive spaces. The gardens include a wetland, a gravity-powered water works, a farmer’s windmill, a solar pump, a green-roofed dog house, and a greenhouse built with energy conserving materials.

Address: Paul Smith Children’s Village, 710 S. Lions Park Drive, Cheyenne, WY 82001, Phone: 307-637-6458

Activities and Attractions for Couples and Singles:

The Terry Bison Ranch is on the Wyoming/Colorado border, and has a herd of fifty massive bison. Visitors to the ranch can take an old-fashioned train into the heart of the bison herd, and buy food to feed them by hand. On the way to the bison herd, visitors will pass by horses, including newborn foals, mules, and donkeys, as well as more exotic animals such as camels, ostriches, and llamas. Horseback rides on the prairie are also available, as are cattle drives that involve herding cows from one grazing area to another while on horseback. The cattle drives include trail riding, and dinner at the ranch’s excellent restaurant, Senator’s. The ranch’s Kids Corral has a stocked fishing pond for kids to fish in; ranch hands will clean and cook the fish for the family to eat!

Address: Terry Bison Ranch, 511-25 Service Road, Cheyenne, WY 82007, Phone: 307-634-4171

Situated twelve miles from Cheyenne, the Wyoming Hereford Ranch is the oldest continuously-operated livestock operation in the United States. Its 60,000 acres are home to superior registered beef cattle, and is a lovely destination for a country drive. The ranch headquarters doubles as a visitor center, and locals and tourists may enjoy reading about the history of this ranch, which dates back to 1883. The ranch headquarters has an extensive library of books about farming and Hereford breeding, which visitors are welcome to peruse. Wyoming Hereford Ranch is favored by birders, as over eighty species of birds make their homes along Crow Creek, and in the ranch’s cottonwood, willow, pine, and spruce trees. The ranch is home to kestrels, wigeons, kingfishers, buffleheads, cormorants, herons, teals, and many other species of common and western birds.

Address: Wyoming Hereford Ranch, 1101 Hereford Ranch Road, Cheyenne, WY 82007, Phone: 307-634-1905

It is a lesser known fact that women played a huge role in the settlement of the American West, and this museum seeks to educate the public about the important heritage of western women. Women branded, rode, cooked, and raised families in wild and often primitive conditions, and some women even performed in rodeos. Wyoming granted women voting and property rights fifty years before any other American state, and was the first state to appoint a female judge. Cowgirls of the West Museum & Emporium has excellent exhibits of photographs, costumes, and tools relating to women in the west, is staffed with knowledgeable volunteer tour guides, and the emporium is full of western memorabilia including clothing, antiques and collectibles, home décor, and books.

Address: Cowgirls of the West Museum & Emporium, 205 West 17th Street, Cheyenne, WY 82001, Phone: 307-638-4994