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Region of the United States
Photo: DPPed, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The Rocky Mountains, the Rockies for short, divide the western United States from the Great Plains.
By train
Amtrak has two daily routes that run through the Rocky Mountains.
By car
Route 25 is the major north-south highway, leading up from New Mexico, while I-70, I-80, and I-90/94 are the major east-west highways.
Getting around the Rocky Mountains can be tough. Mountain passes freeze in the winter, as you might expect, and many roads are risky, if not impassable under heavy snow.
Read in the guideChoose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
West Yellowstone · Regional · WYS
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a ski resort in Colorado
Billings is the largest city in Montana, with an estimated 110,000 people (2019). As a destination, Billings does a significant amount of convention business and is also the host to various regional events such as music festivals, athletic contests, rodeos, and outdoor activities.
Boulder is a college town of about 106,000 in the Front Range region of Colorado. The home of the University of Colorado, the city has a reputation for progressive values and outdoor recreation.
Boise is the capital and largest city of Idaho. Boise offers numerous recreational opportunities, including extensive hiking and biking in the foothills to the immediate north of downtown.
Cheyenne is the state capital and largest city (approximate 2020 population 64,000) of Wyoming. Cheyenne is a place that celebrates its history and "true Western" culture.
Colorado Springs is a city of about 490,000 in the western U.S. state of Colorado. The seat of El Paso County, the city lies 63 miles (101 km) south of Denver at the foot of Pikes Peak in South Central Colorado.
Coeur d'Alene, often referred to as simply CDA, is the largest city in Northern Idaho. The city is a tourist haven for outdoor pursuits.
the Mile High City, by far the biggest urban center in the region; also attracting young and creative folks
Jackson is the largest town (population 11,000 in 2020) in the Jackson Hole valley in Teton County, Northwest Wyoming, close to the south end of Grand Teton National Park. It is the gateway to two of the United States' best-known national parks, Grand Teton and nearby Yellowstone.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is a national park run by the National Park Service in Southwestern Colorado, 15 mi (24 km) east of Montrose. It contains 12 miles of a spectacular and scenic gorge called the Black Canyon.
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is a United States national monument in the Snake River Plain of Central Idaho. The park was created to protect a vast landscape of lava flows with scattered islands of cinder cones and sagebrush.
Devils Tower National Monument (Mato Tipila in Lakota) is a national monument in Crook County, Northeast Wyoming. The monument is the world's largest showcase of column formations; the surrounding softer rock has over time been eroded to reveal cooled magma hardened into igneous rock, appearing as fluted shafts and columns rising over 500 feet (150 m) in the air.
For the park in British Columbia, see Glacier National Park (British Columbia) Glacier National Park is a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage site that is on the northern border of Montana.
Grand Teton National Park is a national park that is located in the Rocky Mountains, in Northwest Wyoming. The park is south of Yellowstone National Park and just north of the town of Jackson.
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve is a national park in the state of Colorado. In addition to the eponymous dunes, the park has attractive high country in the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains.
Mesa Verde National Park is a United States national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the southwestern corner of the state of Colorado. Mesa Verde was the first park in the United States dedicated to preserving archeological remains rather than nature itself.
Rocky Mountain National Park is a national park in the Front Range region of the state of Colorado. The park's borders lie within three counties, Larimer, Boulder, and Grand, and it is surrounded by Roosevelt, Arapaho, and Routt National Forests.
Yellowstone National Park is a national park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was the world's first national park, set aside in 1872 to preserve the vast number of geysers, hot springs, and other thermal areas, as well as to protect the incredible wildlife and rugged beauty of the area.
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