Casper, WY

Home to sculpted mountains, the wild North Platte River, and the Laramie Mountain Range, Casper is as beautiful as it is rugged. This is the second-largest city in the state, and it has an even bigger personality. Casper still has a "Wild West" feel about it, and it has a long history as an oil boomtown.

Today, the city is home to Casper College and is considered the region's banking and commerce hub. Aside from its amazing landscape, Casper offers several other draws, such as the Fort Caspar Museum and Historic Site, the Tate Geological Museum and the Nicolaysen Art Museum. Casper is one of the last cities before reaching Yellowstone National Park, making it a popular stopping-point for tourists.

If going back in time and experiencing pioneer life interests you, visit The National Historic Trails Interpretive Center. The center is a cooperative venture among the City of Casper, the Bureau of Land Management and National Historic Trails Center Foundation.You’ll learn what life was like for the brave people traveling to the West along the Bozeman Trail, Bridger Trail, California Trail, Mormon Trail, Oregon Trail and Pony Express Trail.

During the summer, you can visit the log cabin museum at the Crimson Dawn Park & Museum site on Casper Mountain. Exhibits of pioneer life can be seen at the Fort Caspar Museum and Historic Site. Fort Caspar was named for 2nd Lieutenant Caspar Collins, a US Army officer killed in the 1865 Battle of Platte Bridge Station, which the US fought against the Cheyenne and Lakota. The site, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, contains a reconstruction of the fort.