Rock Springs is an unassuming town of 20,000 people that nestles in the red-rock region of southwest Wyoming near I-80. The town is the principal jumping-off point for the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area where, in 1868, explorer John Wesley Powell followed the course of the Green River on his journey west. Also close to Rock Springs is the enormous sandy expanse of the Killpecker Dune Fields, which rise higher than 150 feet, and White Mountain, where petroglyphs of bison and horses are carved into the sandstone.

Rock Springs has remained a rough-and-tumble town on a seesaw of boom cycles of mining construction and natural resources. Its historic district has an array of interesting buildings, including a former butcher shop at 422 Main Street, where outlaw Butch Cassidy worked and acquired his name. One interesting event Rock Springs hosts is the All-Girl Rodeo in mid-May. On Broadway, the 1882 red sandstone edifice of the Rock Springs Historical Museum explains the region’s mining history.

There is bus service which connects Rock Springs to Salt Lake City and Denver.