Wyoming Travel Podcasts

A Wyoming ranch is thriving on kindness toward animals. Co-Directors Dr. Karen Straight and Matt Farwell share their story about the ranch where research animals are given sanctuary and once nurtured, offered for adoption. The location near Hartville, Wyoming is the only one of its kind in the U.S. and information is available at: kindnessranch.org

The guitar-shaped base stonework is completed and fund raising is well ahead of schedule for the life plus quarter-sized bronze that will be set as centerpiece of Chris LeDoux Memorial Park in Kaycee, Wyoming. Project Coordinator Pam Kinchen says she has contacted sculptor Michael Thomas of Buffalo, Wyoming to tell him the timetable is being moved up in order to open the park by next fall. Thomas’ work “Good Ride Cowboy” in tabletop form has been used as the primary fund-raising tool. It depicts hometown hero LeDoux riding the horse “Stormy Weather” to a world championship in 1976. Chris LeDoux moved on to a successful music and concert career, selling more than six million records. He died of a rare form of cancer in 2005. The annual LeDoux tribute pro rodeo, art show and concert is Oct. 31- Nov. 1 in Casper. More information on it is available by going to: www.wyomingtourism.org

A well developed yurt-to-yurt winter camping system near Evanston extends over a wide swath of trails that are, for the most part, designed to be traveled in non-motorized fashion by skinny ski or snowshoe. Five comfortable units comprise the system that covers pristine landscapes along the southwestern Wyoming and Utah border – 90 minutes from the airport in Salt Lake City. Overnight charges range from $30 during the week to $60 weekends. The Evanston Parks & Recreation Dept. handles the system. More information and reservations available at: www.evanstonoutdoors.com/yurt or by calling: 307.789.1770.

Wyoming’s state tourism office is completing its third year of sponsoring professional rodeo athletes who call Wyoming home and have qualified to compete at the national finals. A new addition to the list is a Wyoming-bred and raised horse that goes by the name “Wyoming’s Miss Congeniality.”

Fall can be fleeting in the American Rockies but when it cools the day and colors the leaves there is little that compares to filling your lungs with the fresh air of a Wyoming short hike in autumn.