Wyoming has a way of shrinking your worries down to the size of a trailhead. The towns that do it best are the small ones. A weekend there might mean soaking in a mineral spring or catching a bluegrass jam. Cody keeps its Wild West history alive on the street every summer night. Lander sends hikers straight into Sinks Canyon. Thermopolis runs the biggest hot spring most Wyomingites have ever put a toe in. These towns are built for the kind of weekend that leaves you more relaxed than when you arrived.
Buffalo
The Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum grew out of one drugstore owner’s habit of collecting whatever cowboys, lawmen, and Army scouts left behind at his pharmacy in the early 1900s. His hoard of frontier objects is a staple in Buffalo, a town wedged between the Bighorn Mountains and the plains east of them. The Bud Love Wildlife Habitat Management Area covers 7,900 acres of hills open to hikers and riders, close enough for an easy morning out. Thursday evenings bring the Ol’ Time Country Bluegrass Jam, where local musicians play folk and bluegrass for anyone who wanders in. Cap the day at the Historic Occidental Hotel, whose saloon has hosted live music and tall tales since the frontier era.