Welcome to Gillette & Wright… the Energy Capital of the Nation… where just a century ago it was a frontier land with open ranges. Located in the Northeast corner of Wyoming, Gillette is placed between the beautiful Black Hills and the vast and rugged Big Horn Mountains. This is a land of wide open spaces, magnificent blue skies and “friendly people.”
Gillette was once known as the wildest cowtown in Wyoming, boasting twenty saloons and a church or two to serve the rowdy cowboys, sheepmen, railroaders, outlaws and regulators that passed through in its heyday as a railhead. Today, it is the center of a vast coal mining industry and is the perfect stop on a trip to Yellowstone and the Tetons.
Tour one of the area’s huge surface coal mines showing the mining process from removal of overburden to land reclamation. Visitors can take a FREE two-hour guided tour of the Eagle Butte Mine, June through August, or view the working operation year-round from the Eagle Butte Mine Overlook.
Gillette features fairs, trade shows, theatrical performances, visual art exhibits and much more. Visit Rockpile Museum for a free history adventure of the 1800s. The Wright Museum in Wright remembers southern Campbell County’s coal, oil, gas and ranching industries.
Gillette & Wright offer excellent golf courses and parks, swimming pools and water parks, including an indoor/outdoor waterslide at the brand new Recreation Center, complete with a Devils Tower replica climbing wall. You are sure to see some pronghorn antelope which outnumber the people in this county. Just south of Gillette near the town of Wright is one of the largest buffalo ranches with 55,000 acres, home to 2,500 free-roaming buffalo.
With fine motels and restaurants, bus and airline connections and so many activities to choose from, Gillette & Wright are the perfect stopovers for active travelers. To learn more, contact the Campbell County Convention & Visitors Bureau we’d love to hear from you! |
