Cheyenne Is Wyoming’s Capital City and One of the Most Overlooked Stopovers on the I-25 Corridor

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Cheyenne, Wyoming is the first major city south of the Colorado border on I-25, and most travelers headed to Colorado from the north blow through it at highway speed without stopping. Those travelers are missing a city with genuine Western character, a state capitol building with a gold-leaf dome, an art museum that punches well above its weight, and one of the most authentic remaining Western events in the country. The fact that Cheyenne is bypassed is both consistent with its history and its greatest asset for visitors who do stop.

What Cheyenne Is and Why the I-25 Bypass Is a Mistake

Cheyenne exists where it does because the Union Pacific Railroad chose it as a division point in 1867. The city grew up around the railroad — the Union Pacific Depot, now a historic landmark and museum, is the physical center of the original Cheyenne that sprung up almost overnight in 1867. The Western character of the city isn’t performance; it’s legacy. Cheyenne Frontier Days — held every July since 1897 — is the largest outdoor rodeo in the world, attended by over 300,000 people annually and featuring professional rodeo competition, Western music, and a parade culture that has operated continuously for 128 years.

What to See in Cheyenne

• Wyoming State Capitol: One of the finest Territorial-era capitol buildings in the country, with a restored gold leaf dome and interior murals — free to tour
• The Nelson Museum of the West: A private collection of Western art and artifacts that is genuinely world-class and almost completely unknown outside Wyoming
• Union Pacific Depot: The 1887 Romanesque Revival station that served transcontinental rail passengers for 95 years, now a tourism center and event venue with excellent historical exhibits
• Cheyenne Botanic Gardens: Free, solar-heated greenhouse garden at 6,000 feet elevation — unusual and well-maintained

The Snowy Range Day Trip

The Snowy Range Scenic Byway — Wyoming 130 west of Cheyenne over the Medicine Bow Mountains — is one of the finest drives in Wyoming, and Cheyenne is the closest major city to its eastern terminus. The road crosses 10,847-foot Snowy Range Pass and passes lakes of impossible blue, alpine meadows with Medicine Bow Peak rising above them, and skiing at Snowy Range Ski Area. On a clear day in late September or early October, when the aspens are gold and there are almost no other visitors, this is Wyoming at its most dramatic and most accessible. It’s 65 miles from Cheyenne’s downtown.

Cheyenne is a 90-minute drive from Denver International Airport, which makes it a practical side trip from any Denver-based Colorado itinerary. A day in Cheyenne — the Capitol, the depot, the Nelson Museum, a Wyoming green chile burger at a local restaurant, and the drive to the Snowy Range — is a different experience from anything Colorado offers and far more accessible than driving to Jackson or Yellowstone.