When you think of Wyoming what comes to your mind? Me; I think wind, cold, plains, buffalo, cowboys, and did I mention wind! Wyoming a beautiful state with rolling grassy plains where the buffalo roam. It is home to so much pioneer history and is cowboy country, home to the biggest rodeo in the USA. Now if you are trying to pick a place to visit in Wyoming that sums all of this up in one town, then you are looking for Cheyenne!
Cheyenne, Wyoming is the capital of Wyoming and it is booming town full of adventure. This town is home to the Frontier Days Rodeo, the biggest rodeo in the USA. It is steaming with western history, but also has plenty of modern activities. Of all there is to do in this capital city, the best attraction of all is visiting the Terry Bison Ranch.
Located south of town, you will know you are at this ranch when you see the silhouettes of bison scattered across the grassy hills. As you turn into the parking lot you might wonder if you have stepped back in time. This little western village, surrounded by bison and horse pastures is a piece of cowboy heaven. But don’t spend too much time gawking at the wonder of this ranch, because you have a train to catch.
The main even that Terry Bison Ranch has to offer, isn’t there farm of animals, their delicious bison burgers, or there western gift store. The train ride is the best part of the farm, not only do you get to ride of a train, but this train takes you into the middle of a bison herd and stops. As soon as it stops is when the magic of this ranch happens, tons of bison run to the train where you get to hand feed these giant fluffy critters! This is what you have to look forward to at Terry Bison Ranch in Cheyenne, Wyoming!
General Information:
Website: https://terrybisonranch.com/
Location: 51 I-25 Frontage Road, Cheyenne, WY 82007
Bison Train Tour Times: 9am, 10:30am, 12pm, 1:30pm, 3pm, 4:30pm, 6pm
Bison Train Tour Price: $20 adult, $10 ages 4-12
Horse Trail Rides: 1 Hour Trail ride is $90 a person (must be 8 or older, less than 250lbs, and able to mount the horse on your own)
Horse Trail Ride Times: 9am, 10:30am, 12pm, 1:30pm, 3pm, 4:30pm
Pony Rides: available between 10am-4pm, $20 per kid, for 5-15 minute ranch hand led rides
What is there to do at Terry Bison Ranch?
Go Western Shopping
As soon as you pull into the parking lot it will seem like you are driving into an old west town. This giant building shaped like a cowboy village is actually a gift shop full of western souvenirs. Necklaces, magnets, statues, candles, treats, shirts, toys, and so much more all related to the wild west! Even if you don’t intend to buy anything it is still worth a gander to window shop!
Photo Ops
All around the grounds it is decorated with western décor. The fence tops have iron cowboy hats on the top, there is old antique equipment and wagons scattered around the grounds. The buildings look like cabins and bunkhouses surrounded by large red barns. The whole place looks like a giant western photo op.
The fun part is though that they have stations throughout where you can stick your head through a hole and get a goofy picture of your head over a piece of art. These interactive photo ops are scattered all around and are so much fun for you to take silly pictures with.
Practice your roping skills
At the base of the hill is a large iron bison, decorated with rusty chains. On the fence that surrounds this iron creature are several cowboy lassos. While you are waiting for the train to take off, be sure to swing that arm and embrace your inner cowboy as you practice throwing a loop around the metal steer.
Pet all sorts of animals!
One thing you will notice right away about this ranch is that there are animals everywhere! I was walking to the bathroom walked by a mama peacock being followed by her chicks. Around the corner was a pen full of baby dairy calves! There were babies everywhere! In several pens were Clydesdale horse foals following their giant mamas around. Gorgeous horses lined the pens just loving all the pets they can get.
There were goats and llamas, turkeys wandering the grounds, chickens pecking the dirt, and even an ostrich pacing the fence pecking your hand when you hold it up to pet. As you walk to the other side there is a little miniature trick pony standing on a box ready to show off his tricks. All of the animals were so sweet and so fun to pet. Even if you didn’t even take the Bison train tour (which you will regret not going on), just visiting the animals around the farm is so much fun all on its own.
Horse Rides
It wouldn’t feel like a cowboy experience unless you had the opportunity to settle into a saddle on the back of a horse! I am a huge horse lover, so this is such a seller for me. The horses available to ride are so gentle and sweet, ready for even the most novice of riders. The trail rides are about an hour long across the grassy hills of the ranch. I can not think of a more western experience than this.
If you have little ones that want to ride, ranch hand led pony rides are available throughout the day. This ride is about 5-15 minutes at a slow walk right around the train station area.
Train Ride To Feed The Bison
Now its time to talk about the main event itself, feeding the bison from the train! These locomotives are unlike any train you have seen because they are custom built trains. So it really is a one of a kind experience! Each car has about 5 rows, big enough to fit around 8 people on them. Underneath each row is a bucket of large pellets to feed the bison.
These trains take you on a tour around the farm. The conductor will drive the train past the animals, stopping to introduce a few of the key critters, like their stallion and Oscar the Grouch the Ostrich. The train will then go past the old bull riding arena, right by the fishing pond, through a tunnel, past fields of prairie dogs, and right into the center of a bison herd.
Once the train has reached the center of this bison herd it will come to a complete stop. While the train may have stopped, the bison will come a runnin.’ At this point of the train tour you are allowed to stand up and grab the feed from the buckets to feed the bison. The bison are huge and will come right up to the side of the train. You will be looking down on these giant creatures with their mouths open wide and their long tongues sticking up to catch some food!
It is so funny to watch their tongues wiggling all around! This is an experience like no other! You can reach out an pet their giant fluffy heads. There are mamas with little calves hiding behind them and giant males leaning up against the walls with feed stuck in their massive fluff of fur! It is an amazing experience to be so close to the massive animals! We had family of all ages there and every single one loved this experience. From grandparents, to parents, to children! Even my baby loved the experience!
After the feeding the tour took us back to where we started. In total the experience was around 30 minutes long and worth every second. The entire tour was fun and exciting!
Eat Bison Burgers
If you book the Dirty Dan McGee Burger Fry meal, then prepare for a delicious homecooked meal! We decided it would be fun to try some bison burgers! The meal that was provided for us after our train ride was such a country style meal. We had bison burgers, baked beans, coleslaw, lemonade, and Bison Chip Cookies. It was a perfect wrap to an amazing country day!
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Tips:
- Don’t sit in the middle of the row on the train ride. You will want to be on the sides so you can get the best views of the bison and all the other animals you will see on the train ride.
- Drop the food in the Bison’s mouths, don’t flat hand feed them. Most of the time when feeding animals you are supposed to have a flat hand so that the animals do not bite your fingers. These bison will come to the sides of the train with their mouths already open and their tongues out. All you need to do is just aim and drop the food, in their mouths. If you try to flat hand you will be slobbered on and probably have to lean so far down that the food will drop right out of your hands.
- Book ahead of time for the Dirty Dan McGee Burger Fry meal so you can eat Bison Burgers. If you do not book the meal beforehand, you will not get the meal after the ride.
- Give yourself time to sign the waiver before you get on the train. Get there early enough that you can sign the waivers and still be there in time to get a good place in line.
- Go on a morning tour when it is not so hot and the bison are more hungry.
- It is limited seating so get in line as soon as you can for your time slot, so you can get on the train.
Things To Do Near Terry Bison Ranch:
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