Buffalo, Wyoming

Buffalo is the county seat of Johnson County. This used to be big-time ranching country, then the winter of 1886-1887 changed a lot of cattle ranchers into sheep ranchers. These days, the big money in Buffalo comes from natural gas production using coal bed methane extraction technology.

Buffalo is located at the intersection of Interstates 25 and 90 and US Highway 16. West of Buffalo, US 16 spends 45 miles as the Cloud Peak Skyway, one of Wyoming's Scenic Byways, offering some great views of the highest peaks in the Bighorn Mountains as it crosses the mountains on the way to Ten Sleep, Wyoming (passing Big Horn Ski Resort on the way).

Buffalo is the southern gateway to the Bighorn Mountains and Bighorn National Forest. Bighorn National Forest offers several hundred miles of hiking, backpacking and horseback riding trails, many in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. In the winter, the forest has 387 miles of snowmobile trails available, some groomed, some powder... The City of Buffalo itself offers the 13-mile Clear Creek Trail System, for folks who like to get acquainted with the local wildlife without having to leave town.

To the north is the site of Fort Phil Kearny, to the west are the Big Horn Mountains, to the east the Great Plains, and to the south the Hole-in-the-Wall Country made famous by Butch Cassidy and his Hole-in-the-Wall Gang (and other outlaws).