A trip to HorseWorks Wyoming is more than just trail rides and cowboy hats. Cabins and lodges throughout the 70-year-old working horse ranch house visitors seeking a complete ranch experience, providing glimpses of what life is like working with horses day and night. Ranch hands drive dozens of steeds across mountainside landscapes, corralling them into spaces where the staff can feed and care for them. For day-trippers, expert wranglers with the lay of the land lead beginning riders through trails and dispense pearls of wisdom about the wilderness around them, giving riders ample information to impress friends.
Straddling the border between Wyoming and Colorado, Two Chicks Paintball's unpredictable terrain throws obstacles and tactical diversions at players. Recreational soldiers carrying the field’s rented Tippmann 98s can maneuver through the trees and hide in forested fields as they strategize attacks and retreats. They can take cover behind looming boulders, which protect from opponents' quick spray of paint and give shooters a chance to catch their breath or recite their favorite inspirational movie monologue to their team before advancing. At the range’s speed-ball field, players can engage in short stints of fast-paced warfare before retreating to the picnic area to refuel their stomachs. For those who arrive unequipped, all the accouterments are available for rent, including paintball guns, safety gear, supplies, and camouflage jumpsuits.
As a young boy rafting with his grandparents, Dinosaur River Expeditions owner Tyler Callantine experienced his first whitewater rapids on the Green River and Yampa River—the same routes that his grandfather explored in the 1940s. Years later, he and his wife Jennifer extend the tradition to new generations, exposing novice rafters and seasoned adventurers alike to the clean, churning waters, red stone cliffs, and verdant pine trees of the Utah wilderness. Like Tyler, many of the staff members honed their expertise on the two waterways, granting them the unique know-how to expound on local lore and decipher the 700-year-old rock carvings’ “Do Not Touch” signs during hikes to Dinosaur National Monument.
As an offshoot of Sierra Trading Post, Derailed.com holds fast to the same business model as its parent company: bargaining with top brands to procure overstocks at heavily discounted prices. But like a youngest sibling taking up juggling cats, it strives to differentiate itself from its older counterparts. It stands out with a youthful vibe thanks to skate, surf, and SUP apparel and the staff's laid-back attitude. They'll happily answer questions and make recommendations on their throngs of camping gear, running shoes, collegiate attire, and bicycle accessories from brands including Hurely, Billabong, and Teva. Though their merchandise boasts an average discount of 48% off the retail value, shoppers can save even more—customers receive a $10 coupon when they sign up for emails, and clients of the Give & Go Referral program get a $20 egiftcard when the friend they referred uses their own $10 email coupon.
Cheyenne Frontier Days revives the rough-and-tumble pastimes of the Old West with a summer exhibition complete with outdoor rodeo, interactive reenactments, and a historical museum. Sidle up to the rodeo, where you can ogle from C-stand seats as wranglers defy gravity while maintaining their balance on bucking broncos and hovering horseshoes. From 12:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day, spectators can catch 10 rodeo events and three track acts that feature more than 40 bulls, 70 broncos, and a trio of trick riders. Daring bull jockeys will attempt to ride a 2,000-pound bull for at least eight seconds, with the good riders successfully holding on and the great riders composing a rhyming haiku to recite on dismount.