Sheridan · Wyoming · 82801
Where the plains meet the Bighorns — and you meet yourself.
A guide to Sheridan, Wyoming — the town, the mountains, the meals, the moments — written by the hosts of Gratitude, a restored 1920s Victorian in Historic Residence Hill.
A letter from your hosts
Sheridan is not a shortcut to Yellowstone. It is a destination — a real one — with a Main Street older than the national park it borders, mountains with their own quiet magnitude, and a rhythm you can feel within an hour of arriving.
This guide is the one we wish existed when we first fell for this town. Every restaurant listed is one we've eaten at. Every trail is one we've walked. Every event is one we'd attend if we had the weekend free. We left out the filler.
Gratitude sits on a corner lot in Residence Hill — six bedrooms, a wraparound porch, a kitchen made for gathering. When you stay with us, this entire page becomes your neighborhood.
Welcome.
The team at Gratitude
Why Sheridan matters
A small city with an outsized address book.
Sheridan is a city of roughly 19,000 people at the base of the Bighorn Mountains, halfway between Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore on US-14/16 — a county seat founded when the Burlington Railroad arrived in 1892. The town is named for General Philip Sheridan, the Union cavalry commander; the townsite was surveyed in 1882 by Jack Dow.
In less than two hours from Main Street you can be in the 1.1 million-acre Bighorn National Forest, at the base of Cloud Peak (13,167 ft), inside a 189,000-acre designated wilderness, or at the Little Bighorn Battlefield.
Sheridan holds more than a dozen listings on the National Register of Historic Places — anchored by the 1893 Sheridan Inn (a National Historic Landmark since 1964) and the 1913 Trail End. The 96th annual Sheridan WYO Rodeo runs July 8–11, 2026.
Orientation map
Tap a pin. The whole town is walkable.
Distances measured from the front porch at 450 S Thurmond Street.
Top of Sheridan
Twelve things you cannot miss.
Start here. Then go deeper.
The Bighorns
At our back door: 1.1 million acres.
Over 1.1 million acres of Bighorn National Forest. 1,200 miles of trail. 30 campgrounds. The 189,000-acre Cloud Peak Wilderness, designated in 1984. Three U.S. Scenic Byways. Elevations from 5,500 ft to 13,167 ft at Cloud Peak itself.
You can be hiking inside an hour of leaving the porch. You can also do a great deal of nothing on a porch with a view of the same range. Both are correct.
- Hiking
Tongue River Canyon Trail
Limestone walls, keyholes, cutthroat trout. ~25 mi from the house, ~40 min drive.
- Hiking
Steamboat Point
A short hike, an enormous view, right off US-14.
- Hiking
Red Grade Trails
Sheridan's 20+ mile community trail system, maintained by the Sheridan Community Land Trust.
Official site - Hiking
The Link & Soldier Ridge Trail System
Interpretive signs along the way mark Plains Indian placenames.
- Hiking
Cloud Peak via West Tensleep
23 miles, 5,300 vertical feet. Most people split it across two days. For the ambitious.
- Fishing
- Fishing
Sibley Lake
Family-friendly, stocked. ~30 mi, ~55 min drive.
- Fishing
Meadowlark Lake
Alpine, with a CCC-built dam.
- Winter
- Winter
Snowmobile trails via Red Grade Road
Hundreds of miles of groomed trail above town.
- Winter
Sheridan WYO Winter Rodeo (skijoring)
February 2026 at the Sheridan County Fairgrounds. A horse, a rope, a skier, a course.
Official site - Motorized
Forest Service Road 26
Side-by-side hub. Waterfalls and vistas without the climb.
- Motorized
Devil's Canyon Road
Northern Bighorns. Cliffs and history.
- Scenic Byways
- Scenic Byways
Cloud Peak Skyway (US-16)
Via Buffalo to Ten Sleep. The gentlest grades of the three.
- Scenic Byways
Medicine Wheel Passage (US-14A)
The northern route, past the Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark — a 75-foot sacred Native stone ring at ~9,642 ft, built 300–800 years ago.
- Climbing
Ten Sleep Canyon climbing
Internationally known dolomite on the far side of the range.
- Climbing
Granite cragging closer in
Ask at the local shop for current routes and conditions.
Eat & Drink
We're hungry. Come with us.
Every name on this list is somewhere we've sat down. The brass check means we've been.
The long, slow dinner
The perfect lunch
Coffee & morning
Beer, bourbon & bars
Historic Downtown
A working Main Street.
The Sheridan Railroad Historic District has been on the National Register since 2004. The brick buildings on Main Street date to the late nineteenth century. The Sheridan Inn opened in May 1893 and is a National Historic Landmark. The Mint Bar has poured drinks since 1907. The WYO Theater opened as the Lotus in 1923.
The Downtown Sheridan Association publishes a walking tour of seventy historic buildings, in print and online. The Public Art Committee's Art on Display brochure maps thirty-plus public sculptures, including the Bronze Rhino at Brundage and Main and the Bozeman Trail Scout.
Third Thursday street festivals close Main Street to traffic from June through September. If your stay overlaps one, we will tell you to go.
Seasons
Four answers to when should we come.
Summer is the loudest, brightest, fullest version of Sheridan. Trails open above 9,000 feet by late June. Main Street fills on Third Thursdays. The rodeo arrives the second week of July and pulls the whole town inside the gates.
Evenings cool fast — even in August you may want a sweater on the porch by ten. Plan one mountain day, one Main Street day, one Big Horn day, and let the fourth find itself.
Don't miss
- WYO Rodeo · July 8 – 11, 2026
- Sunday polo at the Big Horn Equestrian Center
- Third Thursday street festivals
- Tuesday concerts in Kendrick Park
- Don King Days, Labor Day weekend
Highs ~82°F · Lows ~50°F
Signature Events
The year, in eight dates.
Time your stay around one of these and the town will give you a postcard you didn't ask for.
February 2026
Sheridan WYO Winter Rodeo
Skijoring at the Sheridan County Fairgrounds. A horse, a rider, a rope, a skier, a course full of jumps.
Monthly · June – September
Third Thursday Street Festivals
Main Street closes. Music, vendors, neighbors. The clearest snapshot of the town in summer.
July 6, 2026
Untapped Homebrew Festival
A Sheridan summer ritual: local brewers pour what they made at home.
July 8 – 11, 2026
Sheridan WYO Rodeo — 96th annual
Four nights of PRCA & World Championship Indian Relay racing. Sells out most years — buy ahead.
July 16 – 18, 2026
Bighorn Mountain Crawlers Summer Safari
Side-by-side and 4×4 weekend across the high country.
August 25 – 27, 2026
Antelope Butte Music & Art Summit
Three days of music on the mountain at the Antelope Butte ski area.
September 12, 2026
Wine Fest at Grinnell Plaza
Downtown wine festival on the brick plaza. Long shadows, gold light.
September 18 – 19, 2026
Born in a Barn
A Western design + maker festival staged in working barns.
Day Trips
One house, six national treasures within a day's drive.
~65 mi · 1h 10m
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
The Custer fight, sobering and essential. Walk the ridge with the audio tour.
~180 mi · 3h
Devils Tower National Monument
America's first national monument, designated in 1906. The drive itself is the day.
~270 mi · 4h 45m
Yellowstone NE Entrance via the Beartooth
The Beartooth Highway in, the Lamar Valley waiting. The route is the reason.
~210 mi · 3h 30m
Mount Rushmore & the Black Hills
Add Crazy Horse Memorial and Custer State Park. A long but rewarding day.
~95 mi · 2h
Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
Wild horses, deep canyons, near-empty roads. An underrated full day.
~110 mi · 2h 15m
Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark
A 75-foot sacred Native stone ring at ~9,642 ft on US-14A, built 300–800 years ago. Closed by snow much of the year — call ahead.
Practical Info
The boring, important stuff.
Getting here
- Sheridan County Airport (SHR) — daily United Express jet service to Denver (DEN) on the Bombardier CRJ200, run by SkyWest. ~3 mi to the house.
- Billings Logan International (BIL) — about 2 hours by car, broader flight options.
- Denver International (DEN) — about 6 hours by car.
- Rapid City Regional (RAP) — about 3.5 hours by car.
Around town
- Downtown is walkable from the porch — about 0.6 mi to Main and Grinnell.
- Uber and Lyft both operate in Sheridan, with limited evening supply.
- A car is not optional if you plan to visit the Bighorns.
- Goose Creek Transit runs local fixed-route and door-to-door service.
Weather & what to pack
- Summer highs ~82°F, lows ~50°F — evenings cool fast.
- Winter lows regularly below 0°F — real layers required.
- Sheridan sits at 3,742 ft; the Bighorn trails climb above 10,000 ft.
- Semi-arid climate with strong sun. Bring sunglasses and more water than you think.
Good to know
- Sales tax: 4% state + 2% county = 6% total. Lodging tax: 4%.
- Time zone: Mountain (observes DST).
- Cell service is strong in town on all major carriers; patchy in the Bighorns.
- Wildlife: black bears in the range (no grizzlies); moose on the trails. Keep distance.
Sheridan FAQ
The questions we get most.
The only thing missing —
— is you, on the porch.
Gratitude is a six-bedroom, five-and-a-half-bath Victorian in Historic Residence Hill. Twelve sleep in real beds; fourteen with the daybed and the sofa. One house, the whole guide, a six-tenths of a mile walk from Main Street.
Hosting a wedding, retreat, or family gathering in Sheridan? See our guide to local venues, including how Gratitude compares. Read the venue guide →