To kick off our couple of weeks in Wyoming, we spent five days in Gillette, a city in the northeast corner of the state.
Visiting Devils Tower National Monument was the main draw there, but we had a more enjoyable time in the city than we’d been expecting with other fun activities to do there.
Here’s a roundup of where we stayed, what we did and where we ate and drank in Gillette, WY.
Where We Stayed In Gillette
We stayed at the Fairfield Inn & Suites in Gillette which ended up being a great place to stay. The room rate of $100 per night including tax was good value, breakfast is included for all guests and – best of all – it has its own water park on site, something I wasn’t expecting of a Fairfield Inn in the corner of Wyoming!
The hotel had other amenities like a guest laundry area, fitness room, etc., so I’d be more than happy to stay there again if we ever return to Gillette. Here’s a full review of our stay.
What We Did In Gillette
Devils Tower National Monument
As I mentioned earlier, our key draw for staying in Gillette was to be able to visit Devils Tower National Monument. This is an unusual-looking rock formation an hour’s drive from Gillette, believed to have been formed by magma being pushed up through rock layers 50-60 million years ago.
The attraction is popular with rock climbers and we saw a couple of people ascending the National Monument on the day we visited. While the site isn’t very big overall, there are a couple of short trails you can walk along, a visitor’s center as well as a prairie dog town. Check out this post for more about Devils Tower National Monument and our visit there.
Frontier Auto Museum
Neither Shae nor I are huge car buffs, but we decided to visit the Frontier Auto Museum while we were in town as it had good reviews online. I’m glad we did because it was a really interesting museum with a good mix of classic cars along with living history museum-style exhibits with recreated department stores, barbers, drive-ins, etc.
It’s a good value museum and is pet-friendly, so we were able to bring Truffles along. That’s especially handy if you’re just passing through Gillette with your pup and want an opportunity to do something fun along the way. Read more about our visit to the Frontier Auto Museum here.
Where We Ate & Drank In Gillette
Big Lost Meadery
A couple of blocks over from the Frontier Auto Museum is Big Lost Meadery. We’ve been to a few places that offer mead on the road trip and it makes a fun change from breweries, wineries and distilleries, so we decided to give it a try.
We headed there straight after spending some time at the museum, so we had Truffles with us. We’d called ahead of time to make sure they were pet-friendly and they were – both inside the meadery and outside on their patio.
Shae and I ordered a mead flight to share so that we could try each of their different types of mead. I forgot to make a note of which one was our favorite, but we enjoyed each of their distinct flavors.
In addition to mead, Big Lost Meadery also brews some craft beers. We therefore returned the following night so that I could try all eight of those as part of a couple of flights. Those were all good too, with the Irish red and black altbier being my favorites.
Ranch & Roost
Ranch & Roost is next door to Big Lost Meadery and the drinking establishment has cards with a link to the restaurant’s menu on tables. You can order and pay on your phone; when doing so, you can state where you’re seated and the restaurant will bring your meal over to you.
We decided to order dinner from Ranch & Roost the night that we headed back to Big Lost Meadery to try their beers. I ordered their jalapeno popper burger which comes with your choice of smash burger, southern fried chicken or grilled chicken (I picked the smash burger), topped with jalapeno spread, spicy pepper jack cheese (I had this left off as I don’t like cheese) and applewood smoked bacon, along with sautéed jalapenos.
Shae meanwhile ordered their Southern Belle sandwich which came with friend chicken and truffle aioli, plus we got a large hand cut fries and brussels sprout salad to share. Shae thought her sandwich was nice enough but not amazing, but I loved my burger. The bun was nice and soft, the burger was meaty and the jalapeno spread and sautéed jalapenos gave it a good kick.
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