Wyoming‘s smallest towns punch above their weight on history and setting. Pinedale sits in the shadow of the Wind River Range with the Museum of the Mountain Man and a downtown that still works for the outfitters and ranchers who run the local economy. Buffalo’s Main Street Historic District anchors a town where the Occidental Hotel has been hosting guests since the 1880s. Dubois runs on the upper Wind River with log-style architecture, working guest ranches, and a walkable Main Street. Twelve Wyoming destinations follow that prove the smaller towns often tell the most concrete stories.
Buffalo
A town deeply tied to the Old West and mountain wilderness, Buffalo, the administrative center of north-central Wyoming’s Johnson County, sits at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains. The opening stop for visitors here is the Main Street’s Occidental Hotel. As one of the town’s publicly acclaimed hotels, “The OX” has hosted prominent figures like Buffalo Bill Cody, Calamity Jane, and President Teddy Roosevelt, and still houses original interiors, the Virginian Restaurant, a 1908 saloon, and Busy Bee Breakfast Café. The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum is the best place to delve deeper into frontier life, Native American heritage, and the many historical events that occurred along the Bozeman Trail. Play a round of golf with golfing buddies at the multi-award-winning 18-hole public course of the Buffalo Golf Club.