Activities

Vacation

As your vacation destination, Newcastle and Upton have the best prices on motel and campground accommodations in the entire Black Hills!  They are located within a few minutes drive of any attraction you might want to see in the Hills.  You leave the “rat-race” behind when you enter Newcastle or Upton!  When most people go on vacation they look for relaxation.  We have no traffic jams, no rush hour. Just wide open spaces, beautiful sunsets and the only thing cluttering the night skies are the millions of stars that are everyone’s to enjoy!  In fact, in the more than 2400 square miles that Weston County covers, there is only one stop light!  You will feel your worries and pressures melt away when you spend a few days in Wyoming’s northeast corner!

Bird Watching 

Wild turkey, meadow lark, hawks, eagles, geese, grouse, ducks, blue jays, crows, chick-a-dees and more!  Bird watching opportunities abound!  From the mountains to the grasslands, you have a very good chance to see many different kinds of birds in many different habitats.

Wildlife Watching

Both Newcastle and Upton have large deer herds living right in town!  Wild turkeys are everywhere!  There are large elk herds to the north, east and west!  There are more North American Pronghorn Antelope than there are people!  Look for groundhogs, snakes and lizards.  Wildlife watching is easier than people watching in Newcastle and Upton.  Bring your binoculars and your cameras! 

Cycling

Every year, many cyclists visit our area from all over the world.  The beauty of the Black Hills that brought the motorcyclists to Sturgis is now attracting those that love pedaling their way to a destination.

Trains

Upton is located 70 miles east of thirteen open pit coal mines, including the Thunder Basin Coal Mine, the nation's largest. You can arrange to have guided tours to learn more about this critical industry in northeast Wyoming.  Upton and Newcastle are on the railroad right-of-way that ships most of the coal to midwestern and eastern markets.  There is an average of 75 Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad trains that pass through Weston County daily.  This is a train watchers heaven! 

History

Yes, we do have indoor plumbing, electric lights, and even free Wi-Fi in many locations but history still lives here!  The last Indian battle,  Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickok, gold rushes, the first oil well in Wyoming, rustlers, sheep and cattle wars, famous gunfights, the world’s only hand dug oil well and more are all part of area history.  Weston County was one of the last areas of the western United States to be settled by the pioneers.  We could take pages talking about the area's history, but the easiest way to learn about it is to spend a few days at the Anna Miller Museum in Newcastle and the Red Onion Museum in Upton.  Visit Upton’s “Old Town”  and see the exact homes in which some of the earliest settlers lived and raised their families!  Drive on some of the exact routes used by the Cheyenne to Deadwood stagecoach in the late 1800’s.  Eat lunch on the Canyon Springs Prairie near General Custer’s 1874 Black Hills route (will you find the gold that legend says is hidden there?).  Jedediah Smith, famous mountainman, lost his ear in a grizzly bear fight near what is now Newcastle.  Travel the Prairie to the Pines Loop Tour out of Upton or the Beaver Creek Loop Tour out of Newcastle.  Oh yes, history lives here!  History ABOUNDS here!

Geocaching

Geocaching is a very popular pastime for many in the area.  You will enjoy looking for, and finding, the many caches that are located throughout the area.

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is held just inside the South Dakota border during the first full week of August every year for almost 70 years.  The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally brings millions of people to the Black Hills every year.  Because of the great deals you find on accommodations and the beauty of the ride through the Black Hills, Newcastle and Upton are perfect staging points for your visit to the Rally.

Business Opportunities

With CAN-AM  highway US 85 and US highway 16 intersecting in Newcastle and The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad passing through both Upton and Newcastle, opportunities for businesses abound.  The incentives offered to relocate businesses by the State of Wyoming and the Wyoming Business Council, spaces in Upton’s industrial park, no state employment taxes, and the abundance of natural resources that surround us are just some of the great reasons for looking at Weston County as a place to start, or move, your business!  We have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation.  We’ll say it before you get here, “Welcome home!”