3 Best Sights in Gillette, Cody, Sheridan, and Northern Wyoming

You can fish, boat, swim, and camp at Keyhole State Park. Bird-watching is a favorite activity here, as up to 225 species can be seen on the grounds. The park is 45 miles east of Gillette and 20 miles south of Devils Tower.

Local artifacts, including mining tools, cattle brands, and rifles, make up the collection at the Campbell County–run Rockpile Museum. The museum's name comes from its location next to a natural rock-pile formation that served as a landmark for pioneers and cattle drives.

A vast area that stretches from the edge of the Black Hills almost to the center of Wyoming, Thunder Basin truly is the outback of America. Except for a handful of tiny towns, deserted highways, and coal mines, it is entirely undeveloped. Farmers from the east settled this area at the end of the 19th century, hoping to raise crops in the semiarid soil. Experienced only with the more humid conditions east of the Rockies, the farmers failed, and the region deteriorated into a dust bowl. Most of the land has reverted to its natural state, creating millions of acres of grasslands filled with wildlife. Among the many species is one of the largest herds of pronghorn in the world (numbering approximately 26,000), prairie dogs, and burrowing owls that live in abandoned prairie-dog holes. Highway 116, Highway 59, and Highway 450 provide the best access; a few interior dirt roads are navigable only in dry weather. The grasslands, though, are most impressive away from the highways. Take a hike to get a real sense of the vast emptiness of this land. Stop by the District Forest Service Office in Douglas for maps, directions, and tips.