Planning a Trip

Wyoming is a huge state, and there are countless vacations around the area. You can focus on the national parks, or the Wild West history, the ski resorts, or a little cabin in the woods that is truly away from it all -- no Internet, no cellphones, and no city lights.

The places that get the most attention -- Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, the Flathead and Gallatin valleys -- also get the most visitors. If it is peace and quiet you're after, some of the roads less taken are where you'll want to steer your route. But modern conveniences can be hard to find in the most far-flung locales of these states; urban types will be more interested in Jackson, Missoula, and Bozeman, where a day trip to the great outdoors can be bookended with a night's sleep in a first-rate lodging and dinner at a terrific eatery.

Few things can ruin a much-anticipated vacation more than poor planning: for instance, arriving at a national park in mid-January, only to discover that it's almost totally closed by snow until early May, or discovering that you missed that dog-sled race you would have loved to see by 2 days. This section is designed to assist you in sorting out the details that could make the difference between a trip you'll never forget and one you'd rather not remember.