Hot Springs State Park

Hot Springs State Park, in Thermopolis, Wyoming, protects mineral hot springs that the park describes as among the largest in the world, feeding colorful travertine terraces along the Big Horn River. When the state acquired the land from the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes in an 1896 agreement, it was required to keep a portion of the hot spring water free for public bathing, a promise still honored today at the park's free State Bath House. The park also maintains a small bison herd on its grounds. Boardwalks let visitors walk across the mineral terraces without damaging them.