Come stay where cowboys work and play in beautiful Sheridan, Wyoming. The majestic Bighorn Mountains set the scene and offer a panoramic western experience--The West at It's Best!. Sheridan, located on the Bozeman Trail during the 1800's was at the center of the turbulent western expansion.

Today, Sheridan's rich western heritage features museums, forts, and battle sites. Indian battle sites include Fort Phil Kearny, Wagon Box, Fetterman, Rosebud and Connor Fight sites, while historic sites include Trail End Mansion's Flemish Revival architecture, Historic Sheridan Inn, Bradford Brinton Memorial Ranch and Western Art Gallery, King's Saddlery and Western Museum, and Sheridan County Historic Society Museum.

Explore and shop historic Main Street, ride a trolley, attend rodeos and experience Wyoming's abundant outdoor activities year-round.

 Sheridan, Wyoming, voted the original #1 Western Town AND #3 in Top Towns for Outdoorsmen in America! 

Sheridan shines in the spring and summer and offers visitors the ideal charming getaway.

Spring events include the Hang Gliders Fly-in, Rocky Mountain Leather Crafters Trade Show and Eaton’s Ranch Horse Drive through Sheridan.

Sheridan’s Historic Main Street District, home to over 30 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, comes alive with unique specialty shops, and delightful historic trolley or walking tours. Embrace the West while exploring a mansion and museums, or relax in Kendrick Park where the buffalo and elk roam.  Enjoy evening entertainment with live performances at the WYO Theater or a stop at the legendary Mint Bar. Lodging and dining options call to individuals and groups of any size.  And if in need, just ask and then embrace the warm western hospitality!

You can have it all, finding unlimited, easy-to-access recreation in the still pristine Big Horn Mountains.  Hike, bike, camp, boat, fly-fish, rock climb or photograph the wildlife and scenery, or catch a hunting season in these golden hills.  Encounter tranquil, secluded streams and some of the finest fishing around in the Bighorn National Forest’s 180,000 acres of wilderness.  As the ‘Golf Capital of Wyoming’, the area offers four challenging courses, each with distinctive options and majestic views, including Kendrick Golf Course, Powder Horn Golf Resort, Sheridan Country Club and Buffalo Golf Club.. In addition, enjoy weekly polo matches at the Big Horn Events Center and outdoor evening concerts at Kendrick Park all summer long. 

Or just ride the range for intriguing day trips.  Whatever you are looking for to Embrace the West, it is all right here . . .  All conveniently located adjacent to I-90 in north central Wyoming, on historic routes midway between Yellowstone National Park & Mt. Rushmore National Monument!   

Summer includes rodeo action every weekend all summer long, featuring the week-long events of the Sheridan WYO Rodeo with over 75 years of history.

Other events include: Buffalo Bill Days, Bozeman Trail Events, Big Horn Mountain Wild and Scenic Run, July 4th Celebrations, Ucross Foundation Art Openings, Polo Tournaments and Motorcycle rallies.

Fall is one of Sheridan's finest seasons. Visit the mountains and watch the colors change.

Autumn brings cooler temperatures, fewer crowds and glorious color. It's a great time of year to visit Sheridan and to traverse the scenic highways of Big Horn Mountain Country. While in the area, one can enjoy fishing, hiking, camping, scenic views, exceptional wildlife viewing and spectacular fall color. The many side roads into the National Forest--allowing visitors access to the numerous lakes, hiking trails, campgrounds and other points of interest--are only accessible in fall and summer. Fly-fish on the numerous blue ribbon trout streams in the area and in the Bighorn National Forest, go horseback riding at an authentic dude ranch or visit historic and Indian battle sites of the Old West.

Fall events include Don King Days, Flying Cowboys Annual Fly-in and the Hang Gliders Fly-in.

Snowmobile, Cross-country & Downhill Skiing

The Big Horns offer a winter wonderland of trails and vast open meadows.( Wyoming State Trails, Official Website of the Wyoming State Trails Program.)

Easy access and excellent snow depth provide exceptional conditions to ride the quiet and unspoiled Bighorn Mountains near Sheridan, Wyoming. Changes in elevation from 4,000 feet to more than 13,000 feet guarantee awesome snowmobile adventures. Coast along mountain ridges, cut through thick timber or open it up on meadows where you can almost fly.

The Burgess Junction trail system, located in the northern Bighorns, features 218 miles of well-marked groomed and ungroomed snowmobile trails. Paint Rock Trail offers experienced riders 52 miles of trail winding along the Cloud Peak Wilderness boundary. This trail system connects with the Ten Sleep trails in the southern Bighorns offering an additional 188 miles of both groomed and ungroomed trails.

The Bighorns also provide exciting off-trail opportunities with nearly one million acres of national forest. Springtime provides excellent snow conditions with fresh powder, deep snow, and warm days; riding into May is not unusual. The Bighorns are not commercially developed which means lodging in the mountains is limited and prevents overcrowding both on and off the trails.

The area offers other winter outdoor activities as well such as ice fishing, cross-country or downhill skiing. Wildlife is as abundant as the snow and large animals such as moose, elk, and deer can be viewed throughout the winter months.

Winter events include the Christmas Stroll, Trail End State HIstoric Site Holiday Open house and Fort Phil Kearny State HIstoric Site Tour.

The

Three Scenic Byways traverse the Big Horn Mountains including the Bighorn Scenic Byway, the Medicine Wheel Passage and the Cloud Peak Skyway. A trip through Big Horn Mountain Country offers the Big Horn Mountains, the 1.1 million-acre Bighorn National Forest, Cloud Peak Wilderness, Meadowlark Lake, Ten Sleep Canyon, Shell Canyon, waterfalls, and historic Native American sites. While visiting outdoor enthusiasts may enjoy a bevy of outdoor activities, scenic views, spectacular fall colors, glorious spring flowers and exceptional wildlife viewing. The alpine regions are home to elk and bighorn sheep while moose, coyotes, snowshoe hares, red squirrels, marmots, chipmunks and blue grouse inhabit the forested areas. Mountain lions inhabit the foothills and canyon areas while black bear occupy remote areas of the northern parts of the Big Horn.

Sheridan, steeped in western history, offers a lively and diverse community. Sheridan's downtown offers locally-owned shops, galleries and boutiques in a pedestrian friendly historic district. The area offers ample evening entertainment. Excellent restaurants run the gamut from down-home to gourmet, while specialty shopping offers everything from antiques and cowboy memorabilia to intriguing boutiques and galleries, with a movie or a theater performance providing night-time activities. The WYO and Carriage House Theaters provide evening entertainment with many performances offered throughout the year presenting a vast spectrum of performers across the globe.

Visit the historic Main Street District and explore the West's architectural past via a downtown walking or trolley tour. The area is home to over 30 buildings on the National Register including the Historic Sheridan Inn where Buffalo Bill auditioned acts for his Wild West Show. The inn features the Buffalo Bill Days in June and the famous Buffalo Bill Saloon. Once considered the finest hotel between Chicago and San Francisco the inn served such notables as Teddy Roosevelt, Will Rogers and Ernest Hemingway.  It currently plans to open late in 2009 as a "green hotel" catering to the heritage tourist trade visitors who want the experience of staying in a building with deep roots in the past.  The 22 suites each represent and are named for "Buffalo Bill" Cody and associates from his Wild West Show.

Exciting year-round events take place in Sheridan from Buffalo Bill Days to the Sheridan WYO Rodeo, with the city offering a roster of activities and events that seem to never end.

Buffalo Bill Days Wild West Show is a rollicking western extravaganza featuring an authentic wild west show, pony express, a historically accurate parade and the Buffalo Bill Grand Ball. Events kick off at the Historic Sheridan Inn where Buffalo Bill auditioned acts for his Wild West Show.

The Sheridan WYO Rodeo is ranked as one of the top professional rodeos in North America with the world's top cowgirls and cowboys. The week long event features rodeo performances, World Champion Indian Relay Races, Sneaker & Spurs Rodeo Run, Beds Along the Big Horn Bed Race, Kendrick Park boot kick-off contest, plus BBQ's, chuckwagon breakfast, concerts, parades, street dances and more.

The following are some of the other events that take place in Sheridan, in addition to the 30 rodeo events. To verify the details and dates visitors planning on attending any of these festivals or events may visit Sheridan Travel and Tourism at www.sheridanwyoming.org.

• Bozeman Trail Days
• Memorial Day Fishing Derby
• Leather Crafters EXPO
• Independence Day Celebrations and Fireworks
• Mars Big Horn Soccer Cup
• Celebrate the Arts
• Bighorn Mountain Wild and Scenic Trail Runs
• Karz Rod Run
• Sheridan County Fair and Rodeo
• Big West Arts Festival
• Flying Cowboys Annual Fly-in
• Christmas Stroll
• Hang Gliders
• Trail End State Historic Site Holiday Open House
• Fort Phil Kearny State HIstoric Site Tour

Participate in the Arts - Enjoy plays at the WYO or Carriage House Theaters. Visit art exhibits at Ucross Foundation, Bradford Brinton Museum and local galleries, showcasing hundreds of talented artisans. Sheridan County has two artist colonies of the 100 that exist in the United States, the Ucross Foundation and Jentel. Both house national and international artists who are provided accommodations and studio space to complete their work. Writers, visual artists, and musicians are encouraged to apply. During a stay in Sheridan visit one of the area's many museums.

• Historic Sheridan Inn where Buffalo Bill auditioned acts for his Wild West Show is on the National Register of Historic Places. Scandals and mysteries abound at the Victorian inn which features the Buffalo Bill Bar and hosts ‘Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Days”.
  
• Bradford Brinton Memorial Museum & Quarter Circle A Ranch is on the National Historic Register. The collection contains over 600 oils, watercolor, and sketches by American artists including: Charles M. Russell, Frederic Remington, Edward M. Borein, E. W. Gollings, John J. Audubon, Hans Kleiber, Frank Benson and more.
  
• King's Saddlery, Ropes and Western Museum began in 1947 by Don King who is internationally famous for the trophy saddles he built for the Rodeo Cowboys Association. The museum presents a collection of cowboy memorabilia comprised of hundreds of historical saddles, wagons, chaps, spurs, guns, coaches, etc.
  
• Fort Phil Kearney Museum highlights the fort located near present-day Story, in Northeastern Wyoming as one of the three posts established in 1866 to protect emigrants traveling the Bozeman Trail. The dramatic story of Fort Phil Kearny was a forerunner to the events at the Little Big Horn a decade later.
  
• Trail End Historic Site - Kendrick Mansion, home of former WY Governor and U.S. Senator, John B. Kendrick, features early 20th century Flemish Revival architecture and the original furnishings in 22 rooms.
  
• The Ucross Foundation, located on a 22,000-acre working cattle ranch, hosts numerous public exhibitions throughout the year in its Art Gallery, with a focus on contemporary art of the American West. The Foundation also runs a retreat for artists and writers which draws individuals from all over the world who are selected for residencies in a competitive process. The Foundation's complex of buildings, constructed in the 1880s and known as Big Red, is listed on the National Historic Register. 

  

• Sheridan County Historical Society Museum features interpretive exhibits explaining the impact of the railroad, mining, and timber industries on the history of Sheridan County and surrounding areas. Using dioramas, photographs, and artifacts, the museum provides an appealing perspective on the        pioneers who settled the region in the 1880s and 1890s.

Sheridan lies in the valley of the Little and Big Goose Creeks also known as the valley of the Bighorns. Here the majestic Bighorn Mountains rise to the west and the rolling plains slope to the east. The area was the prized hunting grounds of the Plains Indians and was once known as the "Valley of the Chiefs". Sheridan County and the surrounding area can boast of numerous historic battles and fight sites of the western expansion. Museums, historic houses, battlefields and galleries offer artwork and artifacts of the region. Contemporary and western artists sell their wares in historic downtown.

Rich in Western history, the Sheridan area was part of unreserved Indian Territory, home for the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapaho. Chiefs such as Red Cloud, Crazy Horse and Dull Knife fought battles to keep the white man from their prized hunting grounds. The Bozeman Trail, a shortcut scouted by John Bozeman through eastern Wyoming, bordered Sheridan and traveled north to the rich gold fields of Montana. The trail, along part of what is now U.S. Highway 87 was the scene of many battles. It became known as the "Bloody Bozeman." The U.S. Calvary forbade parties of fewer than 100 wagons to take the route, culminating in the Battle of the Little Bighorn north of Sheridan (see Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, MT).

Native American battle sites in the area include: Fetterman Monument (near Fort Phil Kearny); Wagon Box Fight (near Fort Phil Kearny); Sawyer Fight (20 miles north of Sheridan); Connor Battlefield (located 15 miles north of Sheridan); Rosebud Battle (located north of Sheridan in Montana): Dull Knife Battle (located south of Sheridan).

Today, Sheridan remains rich in western heritage. The town's frontier spirit is manifested each year in the Sheridan-WYO Rodeo, held in mid-July. A huge parade, bed race and days of festivities precede this PRCA sanctioned rodeo, one of the oldest in the country. World Champion Indian Relay Races and Indian encampment are also a part of this traditional event.

Sheridan is located midway between the Black Hills and Yellowstone National Park, with access to the park through the Big Horn Mountains.

Historic Sheridan, with the magnificent backdrop of the Bighorn Mountains rising to the west and a roster of activities and events, provides the perfect setting for corporate meetings, business retreats, large-scale conventions, weddings and family reunions.

Lodging properties and over 40 restaurants offer a wide range of options for accommodations, food and ambiance. Sheridan's 22 motels and hotels with a total of 1,170 rooms offer competitive year-round group rates. Full service conference facilities include the Holiday Inn, with 212 hotel rooms and meeting space to accommodate up to 1,000 people and the Best Western Sheridan Center, with 138 hotel rooms and meeting space to accommodate groups of 10 to 150 people. Sheridan College, schools and theaters also serve as additional meeting facilities.