Saratoga, WY

The dining room and saloon of an 1893 stagecoach-era hotel on the main drag, a National Register building that still pours drinks under pressed-tin ceilings. The menu runs to steaks, prime rib and a salad bar, the kind of hearty Western fare the valley runs on. As much a piece of living history as a place to eat.

A rustic log-cabin cafe and bar in tiny Riverside, just up the valley, doing hearty breakfasts, gourmet burgers and homestyle dinners with soups and sauces made from scratch. The full bar pours a wide spread of Wyoming beers, making it the natural refuel after a day on the Encampment River. A genuine local hangout rather than a tourist stop.

A small, white-tablecloth Italian spot in downtown Saratoga that brings a touch of dressed-up dining to a town of saloons and burger joints. The cooking sticks to classic Italian-American plates done with care, an affordable special-occasion table for the valley. A welcome change of pace from Western fare.

A lively Mexican cantina downtown turning out from-scratch dishes, fresh seafood and house-batched margaritas and sangria. It is the spot that fills with a younger, noisier crowd when the rest of the small town quiets down. Reliable, generous and the go-to when you want a margarita after a soak.

A homemade ice-cream shop and casual all-day counter downtown that also handles breakfast, coffee and a light lunch. It is the sweet stop after a soak in the hot springs and the spot families gravitate to on a warm afternoon. Simple, friendly and exactly what a small main street needs.

A quick, friendly sandwich shop downtown built for grabbing lunch on the way to the river or the trail. The bread is fresh and the build is fast, the kind of no-fuss counter every fishing town needs. Good for packing a lunch to take into the forest.

A casual pizza-and-deli counter downtown trading in red-sauce comfort, hot subs and pies to eat in or carry out. It is the relaxed counterpart to Bella's more formal room, the spot for a quick slice rather than a sit-down dinner. Cheerful, unfussy and reliable.

A short, flat loop on a wooded island in the North Platte right in town, reached over a footbridge from the park. It is an easy quarter-hour stroll with river views and good birding, quiet enough that you often have it to yourself. The gentlest walk in the valley and stroller-friendly.

A forest-and-canyon trail that follows the Encampment River south from a BLM campground into the wilderness, the river dropping away below the path. The first few miles to Purgatory Gulch make a solid half-day out-and-back through pine and aspen. The valley's best proper hike, with trout water the whole way.

The blue-ribbon trout river that defines the valley, running clear and cold past town with thousands of catchable fish per mile. Whether you wade the banks, float a stretch with a guide or just walk the greenbelt, the river is the heart of what people come here to do. The single most important reason Saratoga exists as a destination.

One of Wyoming's older craft breweries, built into the Saratoga Hot Springs Resort and pouring its own beers alongside pub food. It is the town's gathering spot for a pint after a soak or a day on the river, with a taproom feel and mountain views. The reliable evening hangout in a town short on nightlife.

The full-service hot-springs resort on the edge of town, with developed mineral pools, a teepee-shaded soaking area, a spa and even a golf course. It is the paid, polished counterpart to the free Hobo pool, good for a longer pampering afternoon. Day passes let non-guests use the pools.

A local outfitter running guided trips across the valley, from fly-fishing floats on the North Platte to snowmobiling the Snowy Range in winter. For visitors without their own gear or river knowledge, it is the simplest way to actually get onto the water and into the backcountry. Year-round and locally run.

An open-air history museum up the valley in Encampment, a cluster of more than a dozen relocated frontier buildings telling the story of the area's copper-mining and tie-hack logging boom. You can wander a homestead, a stage station and a two-story outhouse among the old structures. The most substantial history stop in the valley and worth the short drive.

The free, town-owned hot spring in Saratoga's City Park beside the North Platte, open around the clock with no gate and no fee. A cooler main pool steps up to a corner the locals call the Lobster Pot, hot enough to clear your sinuses in a Wyoming winter. The soak that gives the town its nickname and the reason most people stop here.

The local history museum housed in the old Union Pacific railroad depot, packed with Carbon County artifacts, ranching and railroad relics and a parked railcar out back. It is the kind of volunteer-run small-town museum where a docent will happily talk your ear off about the valley's past. A quick, characterful stop on a hot or rainy afternoon.

A shallow town lake just north of Saratoga, ringed by open sage country and big sky, known for fishing, birdwatching and a hard-water ice-fishing derby in deep winter. It is the easy local water for a paddle, a cast or a sunset, with the Snowy Range as a backdrop. Low-key and uncrowded.