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Cheyenne, Wyoming: The State Capital and the Daddy of 'Em All

Cheyenne is Wyoming's capital, home of Frontier Days (billed as the world's largest outdoor rodeo), and the place where Tom Horn was hanged. Here's how to spend two days well.

By Wyoming Trading Post Editors Updated October 13, 2026
Wyoming State Capitol building in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with its gold-leaf dome and limestone facade against a clear blue plains sky.
The Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne. The dome was first gilded in 1900 and was re-gilded in 2018 during the building's 2016-2019 restoration. , Photo via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA.

Cheyenne is Wyoming’s state capital and its largest city (about 65,000 people), and a small city dense with history. The town sits on the high plains near the Colorado border at the intersection of I-25 and I-80, the two interstates that frame Wyoming’s southeastern corner. The Union Pacific Railroad arrived in 1867 and the city grew up around it. Cheyenne was the territorial capital from 1869 and became the state capital in 1890, and in the 1880s it was home to a famously rich community of cattle barons.

Much of that history is still legible downtown. The 1886 Union Pacific depot still stands. The Wyoming State Capitol, finished in 1890, reopened in 2019 after a top-to-bottom restoration. The Plains Hotel has stood since 1911. The Wyoming State Museum holds a small group of artifacts its own research ties to Tom Horn, among them a remnant of a horsehair rope he made.

For visitors interested in the political and economic history of the cattle West, Cheyenne is a concentrated place to start.

What to do

Cheyenne Frontier Days (late July)

Billed as the world’s largest outdoor rodeo. Started in 1897 as a one-day exhibition, it has been held every year since except 2020, when COVID cancelled it for the first time, and now spans ten days of PRCA-sanctioned rodeo, parades, free pancake breakfasts, the Morning Star American Indian Village, the Old West Museum, and night concerts. The 2027 dates are July 23 to August 1.

The rodeo purse went up from $770,000 to $960,000 in 2026, which Frontier Days says keeps it among the richest payouts in professional rodeo, and that money is why top cowboys compete here. Popular performances and lodging go early, so book well ahead if Frontier Days is the anchor of your trip. If you are visiting Wyoming in late July, organize your trip around it; if you are visiting any other time of year, plan to come back for it.

The Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum at Frontier Park is open daily year-round ($15 general admission in 2026) and holds rodeo memorabilia and Western art.

The Wyoming State Capitol

The Capitol, finished in 1890, was restored from 2016 to 2019 as part of the Capitol Square project, which also rebuilt the Herschler office building next door. The gold-leaf dome, the rotunda, and the House and Senate chambers are open to the public; check current hours and tour times before you go. Allow 60-90 minutes.

A block away, the Barrett Building at 2301 Central Avenue houses the Wyoming State Museum and the Wyoming State Archives, both worth visits.

The Wyoming State Museum

Free admission, Monday through Saturday. Exhibits cover Wyoming’s geology, archaeology, cultures, wildlife and energy history, plus ranching, mining, and modern Wyoming. The museum’s Tom Horn holdings are small and carefully vetted: a museum review cut items that could not be tied to him, and kept a few, including a horsehair rope remnant. The gallows that hanged him is at the Wyoming Frontier Prison in Rawlins. Two to three hours.

Historic downtown walking tour

Cheyenne’s historic downtown is genuinely intact. The Union Pacific Depot (1886, a National Historic Landmark, now the Cheyenne Depot Museum and a restaurant). The Tivoli Building (1892, built as a saloon and restaurant; the committee that planned the first Frontier Days met upstairs). The Atlas Theatre (an 1887 building, a theater since 1908, home of a summer melodrama). The Plains Hotel (1911). The Depot Plaza hosts farmers markets and concerts. Walking tour information is at the Visit Cheyenne visitor center inside the Depot, 121 West 15th Street.

The 1886 Union Pacific railroad depot in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a Romanesque sandstone building with arched windows and a clock tower.
The Union Pacific Depot, built in 1886 and still anchoring downtown Cheyenne, which grew up around the railroad after it arrived in 1867. Now a museum and restaurant, and a National Historic Landmark. Photo via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA.

The Cheyenne Botanic Gardens

Underrated. About nine acres of gardens in Lions Park, the three-story Shane Smith Grand Conservatory (opened 2017), and the older solar-heated conservatory. Free admission. Worth two hours, especially in winter when most outdoor Wyoming attractions are closed.

The Wyoming Hereford Ranch

Its roots go back to 1883, when Alexander Swan founded the Wyoming Hereford Association on Crow Creek. A real working ranch; check with the ranch about visits before you go.

Day trip: Vedauwoo Recreation Area

About 30 miles west of Cheyenne off I-80 (Exit 329) in the Sherman Mountains. Famous for its bizarre granite rock formations (celebrated crack climbing), pine forests, and high-plains scenery. National forest land with a $5 day-use fee and multiple short hiking trails. Worth a half-day on the way between Cheyenne and Laramie.

The rounded granite rock formations at Vedauwoo Recreation Area in the Sherman Mountains, Wyoming, with pine trees growing between the boulders.
Vedauwoo, about 30 miles from downtown Cheyenne. The Sherman Granite is 1.4 billion years old, and its cracks draw climbers from far away. A half-day here on the way to or from Laramie changes the trip. Photo via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA.

Where to eat

Cheyenne’s downtown has a good spread of places to eat. Check current hours before you go.

The Albany Restaurant. Next to the Depot on Capitol Avenue, run by the same family since 1942. Steaks, prime rib, and a classic bar.

Bella Fuoco. Wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizza in a converted house.

Paramount Cafe. Coffee, pastries, and light meals on Capitol Avenue downtown.

Accomplice Beer Company. Local brewery with food, downtown.

Two Doors Down. Burgers, a downtown favorite since 2009.

Sanford’s Grub & Pub. Casual, with a long craft-beer list and a Cajun-leaning menu. Easy lunch.

Avoid: the chain restaurants on Dell Range Boulevard north of downtown unless you are pressed for time. Real Cheyenne dining is downtown.

Where to stay

Historic and central: The Plains Hotel (1911), downtown. The Nagle Warren Mansion B&B, an 1888 mansion that was slated to reopen as an inn in 2022; check that it is taking bookings.

Chains: Mid-range and budget chain hotels cluster around the interstate interchanges and along Lincolnway. Expect much higher rates during Frontier Days.

Camping: Curt Gowdy State Park, west of town, has campgrounds on its reservoirs. Vedauwoo, on national forest land, has a campground.

When to visit

Summer (June-August): peak season; Frontier Days (last week of July) is the singular event but every weekend in summer has events at Frontier Park.

Fall (September-October): ideal weather, no crowds, lodging cheaper. Best non-Frontier-Days window.

Winter (November-March): cold and windy. Botanic Gardens, museums, Capitol tours all open. Lodging cheapest of the year.

Spring (April-May): unpredictable weather, can be excellent or can be muddy. Lower prices.

Connection to Wyoming history

Cheyenne is the political and historical center of Wyoming in a way that no other Wyoming city is. Major events that played out here:

  • The Johnson County War legal aftermath (1892-1893): the cattle-baron invaders captured at the TA Ranch siege were brought to Cheyenne, where the charges against them were eventually dismissed. The Wyoming Stock Growers Association was headquartered in Cheyenne.
  • The Tom Horn case (1902-1903): Horn was tried and convicted in Cheyenne for the Willie Nickell killing. He was hanged at the Laramie County Jail in Cheyenne on November 20, 1903. See our piece on the Tom Horn case for details.
  • Wyoming statehood (1890): Cheyenne was the territorial capital from 1869 and became state capital when Wyoming joined the Union as the 44th state on July 10, 1890. Wyoming’s first-in-the-nation women’s suffrage (1869) was enacted by the territorial legislature meeting in Cheyenne.
  • The cattle-baron oligarchy (1880s): Cheyenne in the 1880s is often described as one of the richest cities per capita in the country, fed by English and Scottish investment in Wyoming cattle. The Cheyenne Club, formed in 1880, was the cattlemen’s famously exclusive social headquarters.

For visitors interested in any of this history, Cheyenne is the right starting point.

What to skip

  • The Frontier Mall north of downtown (generic, indistinguishable from any mid-American shopping mall).
  • Most of the chain hotels and chain restaurants on Dell Range unless you are passing through on the interstate.
  • “Old West” themed gift shops with mass-produced cowboy merchandise. Real Western goods are at the small leather shops downtown and at the Frontier Days shopping.

Pair with Sheridan and Cody on a longer Wyoming circuit and you have three of the state’s most history-rich towns in one trip.

Dress for Cheyenne

Frontier Days and any Cheyenne function call for real Western dress. The right pieces:

A saddle bronc rider mid-buck in the dirt arena at Cheyenne Frontier Days, mounted pickup men waiting behind him and a packed grandstand above the rail.
Saddle bronc riding at Frontier Days. The arena is open dirt under open sky, which is what separates this from the covered stadium rodeos, and it is why the July heat and the dust are part of the ticket. The purse is a big reason top PRCA contestants show up. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress (LCCN 2015633261). Public domain.
Flat unbroken grassland stretching to a distant treeline under a heavy grey and white cloud bank, rural Laramie County, Wyoming.
Rural Laramie County near Egbert, east of Cheyenne toward the Nebraska line. This is what the high plains actually look like on that side of the city: flat, treeless, running to the horizon. Cheyenne sits at 6,062 feet on that surface, higher than Denver, and nothing about the ground tells you so. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress (LCCN 2015632926). Public domain.
A steer wrestler leaving the saddle at a run to take a steer by the horns in the Frontier Days arena, a hazer riding alongside and dust up around them.
Steer wrestling at Frontier Days. Bronc and bull riding fill the highlight reels, but most of a rodeo afternoon is timed events: steer wrestling, tie-down roping, team roping, barrel racing, each one run against a clock and a barrier. Watch the arena crew reset between runs and you will see how much of a rodeo is logistics. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress (LCCN 2015633264). Public domain.

Further reading

  • Wyoming State Archives, Cheyenne, open to researchers.
  • T.A. Larson, History of Wyoming (University of Nebraska Press, 2nd edition 1978). The standard scholarly history of the state.
  • Visit Cheyenne official site for current event calendars and tour schedules.

Sources

  1. Cheyenne Frontier Days, official site
  2. Wyoming State Museum, plan your visit (free; Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue)
  3. WyoHistory.org, Tom Horn Artifacts at the Wyoming State Museum
  4. Cheyenne Frontier Days, 2026 format and purse announcement ($770,000 to $960,000)
  5. Cowboy State Daily, Frontier Days cancelled for 2020, first in its history
  6. Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, hours and rates
  7. Visit Laramie, Vedauwoo (Exit 329; $5 day-use fee)
  8. Cheyenne Depot Museum (Union Pacific depot built 1886; National Historic Landmark)
  9. Visit Cheyenne (official tourism)
  10. Wyoming State Archives, Cheyenne