Touching down at Cheyenne Regional Airport in Cheyenne keeps you central, with the Front Range, the high plains, and the Laramie Mountains an easy drive away. Cheyenne is the capital and biggest city in Wyoming, but it still feels like a railroad town that struck it rich, with a gold-domed capitol, a grand Union Pacific depot, and giant painted cowboy boots on the sidewalks. It is proudly Western, easygoing, and home to the biggest outdoor rodeo on the planet.

Standout experiences around Cheyenne: - Catch Cheyenne Frontier Days in late July, ten days of rodeo, parades, concerts, and free pancake breakfasts - Tour the restored Wyoming State Capitol and its gold leaf dome - Visit the Cheyenne Depot Museum inside the 1887 Union Pacific station - Stand beside Big Boy 4004, one of the largest steam locomotives ever built, in Holliday Park - Feed the herd at Terry Bison Ranch on a ride-along train tour - Hike or mountain bike Curt Gowdy State Park, a half hour west - Scramble the granite domes of Vedauwoo in Medicine Bow National Forest

Cheyenne sits where the plains meet the mountains, so the options branch quickly. Laramie and the University of Wyoming are 50 minutes west over the Summit, Fort Collins, Colorado and its breweries are 45 minutes south, and Denver is about an hour and 45 minutes down I-25. Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park are a couple of hours away. Locals keep the wind in their jokes and their hats pulled low, and a chicken-fried steak is never far off the menu. Come in July if you want the big show, or any other month if you want Cheyenne to yourself.