Jackson Hole is the authentic Wild West—everywhere you go you have a sense this grand landscape can’t be found anywhere else. I know it’s been a while since Billy Crystal made us chuckle in City Slickers, but doesn’t everyone have deep-seated fantasies about being a cowboy and living life on the range? Is it the smell of the campfire? The taste of grounds-laden coffee? Riding horses? Communing with nature? Or perhaps it’s those handsome—and real—cowboys?

The Wild West Academy

Now Four Seasons Resort and Residences Jackson Hole is offering to make this dream come true—sans grounds-laden coffee! The resort in the midst of ski country has a new summer-based Wild West Academy for families and kids. The How to be a Cowboy experience starts with an introduction to rodeo. Then you move onto barrel racing, followed by calf-roping. Can you think of anything more American? Also, think about the fabulous new outfits that are needed: cowboy boots, hats, spurs, whips… I’m sure you can’t even get on a horse without a pair of Lee Jeans.

Moose and Bison and Bears… Oh My!

If you are looking for something a bit more tame but still spending time out in nature, Jackson Hole’s Four Seasons now has in-house naturalists. They can show you the natural habitats of black bears and grizzlies, and spend time spotting wolves, moose, bison, eagles, and deer. At nightfall, the resort’s own astronomer (of course the resort has its own astronomer!) will venture with you out into the wide open Wyoming skies, under which you can explore the planets, stars, and solar systems with the help of a high-powered telescope. The Wild West Academy also can take you fly fishing in a hand-crafted wooden boat, in which you’ll learn to tie your own flies! There are also opportunities to spend time with chef Michael Goralski, who can teach you how to cook game and prepare side dishes with local ingredients. Once you’ve had enough of “roughing it”, you get to come back to the sanctuary that is the Four Seasons Jackson Hole, where you can spa and dine to your heart’s content. I’d book an afternoon massage even before you “mount up!”