Wednesday 4 March 2015

Things To Do In Wind River WY

By Leslie Ball


It may sound like a fictitious town in a superhero comic book, but Thermopolis is a real place. Located near Wind River WY, it has two nicknames, Thermop and T-Town. Thermopolis is derived from the Greek words for Hot City, because it is situated near a hot springs, as the name Hot Springs County would imply. The nearby state park encompasses the largest hot spring on the planet, complete with nearly a dozen mineral pools. The public have access to the springs for free, thanks to a treaty signed with the local Indian tribes.

As if hoards of visitors clamoring to get into the hot springs weren't enough, the Dinosaur Museum at Thermopolis houses the only fossil specimen of Archeopteryx outside Europe. Part reptile, part bird, this extinct animal has profound evolutionary significance.

Archeopteryx lived around 150 million years ago during what geologists call the Jurassic Period. With its small size (about the size of a magpie or raven) and the presence of broad, feathered wings, scientists have inferred that Archeopteryx was able to fly. However, it shares more features with other dinosaurs of the time than it does with modern birds.

Thermopolis is accessible from the north and south by Highway 789, which connects the states of Montana and Colorado, and from the west by Highway 120, traveling northwest to the Montana state line where it joins Highway 72. There is only one school district in Hot Springs County, serving an elementary school, one middle school and a high school. Hot Springs hospital offers a full range of medical services, including a 25-bed intensive care unit equipped with the latest equipment.

Wyoming has the lowest population of any other state in the union. The state goes by the nicknames the Equality State, Big Wyoming and the Cowboy State. Wyoming is bordered by six states: Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and Utah. The state capitol is Cheyenne, 308 miles and a four-hour drive from Thermopolis.

You have to scroll a long while on Google Map to find the nearest big city to Thermopolis, most of which are at least 159 miles away. Make sure you keep your gas tank topped up and have enough provisions to last you a half day's drive and back. Among these cities are Jackson, Green River, and Casper. Tucked in Jackson Hole Valley, Jackson is a popular ski haunt. Mr. And Mrs. Johnny Carter put Jackson on the map with a song by the same name.

Casper, Wyoming, is the seat of Natrona County and a two-hour drive from Thermopolis. It bears the nickname, Oil City. Forbes Magazine named Casper as the family-friendly small town in the west and the eighth-best overall. Casper, the Oily City, has a long heritage of being both a cowboy town and an oil boomtown.

The capital of Sweetwater County is Green River WY. Sparsely populated with only 911 people per square mile, Green River is between three and fours' drive from Thermopolis. Green River will find itself the focus of the international media when native resident Tom Schalow takes his seat on the first manned mission to the planet Mars. Two other famous people from Green River are Heather Moody, Olympic silver and bronze medal winner for water polo, and Curt Gowdy, popular sportscaster.




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