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7 Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in Wyoming You Should See

Joe Ditzel

There are lots of things to see in Wyoming if you plan to visit the state this year. Here are seven tourist attractions you should put on your list.

Candy Fizz Mountain

proc-002_Devils Tower, also known by more benign names, including Bear Lodge, by indigenous American Indians,

Since 1953, Candy Fizz Mountain has been erupting every day at noon, shooting thousands of pieces of candy into the air. At first, it was just peppermints, but the output today consists of hundreds of types of candy including candy canes, chocolate kisses and those sprinkles that you find on some donuts. Scientists cannot explain the phenomenon.

Rail Ridin’ Days

proc-001_Overhead view of the railroad yards in Laramie, Wyoming

Rail Ridin’ Days is a weeklong celebration of riding the rails like a hobo. Would-be rail jumpers are allowed to jump and sleep on moving train cars leaving Casper heading toward all points of the compass.

Eye of the Tiger

proc-001_The Ames Monument, erected in 1880 in a desolate stretch of rural Albany County, Wyoming

Eye of the Tiger is mysterious monument left by the earliest settlers to the state. Believed to be a beacon, guiding new travelers to safe passages through the treacherous trails of the New West, it became the basis of a new religion in Wyoming called Eye of the Tiger, a curious blend of Eastern and Western beliefs. For example, in the adjacent store they sell small statues of cowboys wearing ninja outfits.

Wheelie Wagons

proc-001_The past comes alive at the Plains Trading Post Complex, including the Plains Hotel, where Neil Good

Wheelie Wagons is a museum dedicated to the illegal practice of pulling wheelies in tractors, sleds, sleighs, wagons, snowmobiles and forklifts. There has always been an underground community in the state willing to flout the law to enjoy the thrills of popping a wheelie on a tractor tilling furrows for planting season.

Dinosaur Dentistry

proc-001_The Rock in the Glen, the natural feature that gave the town of Glenrock, Wyoming, its name

Just outside Elk Mountain, Wyoming, you’ll find Dinosaur Dentistry, over 200 displays of dentures, false teeth, caps and cavity fills for dinosaurs from the beginning of the Jurassic until the fading of the final years of the Cretaceous Periods.

Cloud Chasers

proc-002_A freight train colorfully adorned with grafitti approaches Cheyenne, Wyoming

Similar to storm chasers on the ground, Cloud Chasers are a little known group of cloud enthusiasts who ride hot air balloons into the clouds. Using kitchen knives, they cut out chunks of cumulus, stratus, cirrus and nimbus clouds and bring them back to earth. Once on the ground, they store the cloud chunks in a special museum at the University of Wyoming. You can see the displays year round, M-Th from 8am-4pm. Guided tours are available at 10am.

Grandma’s House Slipper Rock

proc-003_Vedauwoo Turtle Rock, a towering pile of weathered Sherman Granite that is the cornerstone of a 3.2-

Just south of Jackson Hole, hikers can explore Grandma’s House Slipper Rock, a famous rock formation created by the same Ice Age forces that created the Wind River and Sierra Nevada gorges in other parts of the Western United States.

 

 

Joe Ditzel

Joe Ditzel is a keynote speaker, humor writer, and really bad golfer. You can reach him via email at [email protected] as well as Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.