After a fun weekend attending graduation parties for cousins on both sides of our family, we had the opportunity to host a few of our out-of-town relatives who had never visited Cheyenne.

It’s tricky being a tour guide in a town you haven’t thoroughly explored yourself! Between a late fall arrival, a month out of state for the holidays, and a variety of domestic and international trips throughout the spring, the eight months we’ve lived in Cheyenne can really be boiled down to more like eight weeks of actually being present and exploring things for ourselves.

We recommended our family check out the downtown historical trolley tour and grab lunch while we finished up work, and then we met at Holliday Park for a post-lunch walk as we considered the options we had brainstormed for the afternoon.

It seemed like everyone was in agreement we should check out Terry Bison Ranch, which none of us had visited before. Just south of Cheyenne, this ranch resort offers train tours out to see the bison as well as horse and pony rides, fishing, camping, accommodations, dining, and more.

Everyone had eaten lunch so we limited this visit to the barnyard, train tour, and gift shop. Although I hadn’t read about it online, the woman leading our train tour is in charge of training the horses and mentioned she occasionally does some trick shows for visitors. There were certainly a variety of activities available, depending on your interests and the duration of your visit.

We had arrived a bit early for the next train tour so we spent a little time wandering around the barnyard and checking out some of the animals. There was an elevated walkway over the open stalls so you could very clearly watch the animals without interfering with them. I really enjoyed seeing the alpacas and goats as well as the giant ostrich!

There were peacocks, chickens and ducks also wandering around wherever they pleased, along with a few cats who seemed to be leaving all of the birds alone. Brian befriended one very friendly tabby who hopped right up on his lap for a good scratch.

There were a fair number of people on the train tour for a Tuesday afternoon, but we were efficiently boarded and briefed on the safety protocols and then off to see the bison.

Our guide was wonderful and told us the history of the ranch and bison herds during our ride out to the animals. We spent quite a bit of time among the animals, feeding them the specially prepared pellets out the windows of the train following her instructions while she fielded our questions.

PSA: I had mixed feelings about getting so close to this relatively domesticated herd and being able to feed them out the train windows. While this is all set up to be a perfectly safe experience for both the bison and the humans, people cannot seem to discern when it’s appropriate to have these engagements (e.g. almost never), and I’m afraid this sort of controlled experience might perpetuate the belief in some people’s minds that it’s ok to approach and/or feed wild bison. IT IS NOT. I’m tired of reading about the wildlife – including bison – that have to be put down because visitors to the national parks and elsewhere interfere with them. If you want to feed a bison, go to Terry Bison Ranch and take part in this controlled experience!

While the feeding portion of the activity made me a little uncomfortable, sitting in the train and getting an intimate view of the herd was wonderful – in no small part because there were so many babies!

At the time of our visit, our guide said they had 17 calves, with more on the way. I loved being able to safely view the animals interacting with one another and the babies trying to feed from their moms, who were constantly wandering away.

As we continued our train ride around the property, a couple of the moms and babies headed out into an open space and the babies shot back and forth, zooming all over the place. It was wonderful to see!

While I’m not sure I need to take the train tour again, I would recommend it to others who’d like to have a relatively close encounter with a somewhat domesticated bison herd.

They are magnificent creatures. While I personally prefer to watch them roaming free in the wild, I will readily admit that I also loved getting to see them up close from the safety of the Terry Bison Ranch train.