Costs here are about the national average, though the mountain areas, of course, have their high season in winter, low in fall and spring, and shoulder months in the summer.
Weather
Covering both deserts and mountains, the temperatures here range from over 100°F in summer to below freezing in winter, averaging around 24°F in the colder months.
Colorado is best from May through mid-September, unless you are skiing, in which case "best' is from Thanksgiving through mid-April.
Montana is best from June through early September.
Nebraska has its best weather from late April through late October, with dozens of county fairs in the month of August alone.
North Dakota's best weather is from June through mid-September.
South Dakota is best from late May through late September.
Utah enjoys its best skiing weather from Thanksgiving through mid-April, but, otherwise, has the nicest weather from about early May through late September.
Wyoming enjoys its best weather between mid May and early September.
Rockies and Plains States Activities
As the spiritual center of the Rockies, Colorado means mountains to most people, with skiing in the winter and hiking the rest of the year. It's natural to think of snowy sports that include ski boarding, bobsledding and the like in winter, but in summer, the mountainsides are covered with wild flowers, and the air is crisp and clear, ideal for hiking, camping or riding. Even just a tour bus journey up and down Pike's Peak, though commercialized now, is worth the trip. If you must stay indoors, visit the many galleries (even in small towns) or cultural institutions in Denver, Boulder and Aspen. Do not miss Telluride for skiing or Durango in summer.
Kansas bills itself as the Land of Ahs (like Oz, get it?) and it is much more beautiful than outsiders might think, with plenty of lakes (many manmade) for good fishing, lots of space for shooting pheasant and ducks, and a relatively flat countryside for bicycling or horseback riding. Indoors, visit the museums at Fort Leavenworth, and in Topeka and Kansas City, the latter having some art galleries as well (though the majority are across the state border in Missouri).
Missouri has two big cities, St. Louis on the east and Kansas City on the west, with the fashionable indoor things to do that make them centers of culture. Kansas City tends to look westward (cowboys and that sort of thing), St. Louis to the east (imitating Boston, for example). So indoors in either place, you will find plenty to do, from splendid museums and galleries (the Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City, the Art Museum in St. Louis) to fine restaurants and nightclubs. Outdoors, Missouri is fishing and hunting territory, with the magnificent Ozarks as home base. On that region's many lakes, you can rent motorboats, houseboats, sailboats, personal watercraft (they used to be called jet skis), floats and rubber tubes, if you wish. Texans used to come north here to spend the summer in the relative cool weather (in the 70s by day, 50s by night).
Kansas is much like the Midwest in attitude, but in temperatures and climate, closer to Oklahoma than to Iowa, for instance. The best times of year lie between April and October.
Missouri enjoys its best weather between early April and early November.
In Montana, an ideal small town is Whitefish, close to gorgeous Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake. You can take in the many arts and craft boutiques here or even hop a train in and out on the Burlington Santa Fe Northern Pacific, which stops here daily in either direction on its Seattle-Chicago run. Indoors in Whitefish, seek out the brewery that gives away free beer. In the rest of the state, you can choose between the national parks and state parks for every kind of conceivable outdoor activity, from camping to fishing, from hiking to workshops around the campfire, and much more.
Folks in Nebraska like to hunt and fish, and so may you when you visit. For indoor activities, you can find everything from visiting Boys Town to waging a fiver on the horses at Omaha's Aksarben Track.
Up in North Dakota (where a perennial debate rages over the idea that the state should drop the "North" in its name), there are not many organized outdoor activities for tourists, but you can find locals who will lead you to the best fishing and hunting spots (sometimes for no fee). Horseback riding is a given, seeing how much space there is to roam around in. Indoors, check out the art galleries in Grand Forks (the university town) and Fargo (the business center of the state).
In South Dakota, you will find yourself tramping around the state's most famous sites, Mount Rushmore and the Black Hills. Hiking and camping re big here, as is fishing. Get yourself down to the Badlands National Park, if only to visit the Roberts Prairie Dog Town to watch those cute little critters do their thing (which is to bark out warnings against intruders).
Utah finished the 2002 Winter Olympics with a great flourish, and then returned to normal, welcoming visitors who come to ski in winter, sightsee in summer. Summertime is best for places like Bryce Canyon, Zion and other magnificent national park sites, while winter is (obviously) star time for skiers and their ilk. For skiing, you can't miss Park City (site of many Olympic events) or Sundance.
In Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park and its little sister, the Grand Tetons park, have trouble keeping up with the vast numbers of people trying to get in, going so far as to limit the number of vehicles per day. Summer is best for just seeing the parks, or to go rafting, boating or hiking, but it's winter if you want to go skiing or snowmobiling somewhere else in the state. Indoor activities are pretty much relegated to Cheyenne (the capital) and Laramie (the university town), both of which have good museums and a few art galleries.