CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) – Where’s the best place to watch next year’s eclipse? If you’re thinking the grand open spaces of Wyoming, you have plenty of company.
Hotel rooms across the Cowboy State are going, going, gone, well over a year before the arrival of the first total solar eclipse to be seen from the mainland U.S. in almost four decades.
A national astronomy convention has reserved Casper’s largest hotel. International guides plan eclipse-oriented tours of the Yellowstone region. Jackson Hole is bracing for big crowds, and Native American tribes are promoting their heritage as the perfect backdrop for the rare natural event.
Tourism boosters are giddy. They’ve done little to market Wyoming as an eclipse destination, with millions already visiting Grand Teton and Yellowstone each year, and yet even campsites are being claimed more than a year before eclipse day, Aug. 21, 2017.
“What’s hot on everybody’s mind is, what’s the attendance number?” said Brook Kreder with the Casper Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.