There are travel experiences you plan for months, and then there are the ones you stumble into that end up redefining what a trip can be. For me, an afternoon with High Plains Falconry outside Casper, Wyoming landed squarely in that second category — and I have been talking about it ever since.
Situated amid the sweeping sagebrush flats just outside the city, High Plains Falconry offers something genuinely rare in American tourism: a hands-on, deeply educational falconry encounter led by a licensed master falconer. This is not a zoo exhibit where you stare through glass at a bird on a perch. You are outside, glove on your arm, with a Harris’s hawk or a red-tailed hawk landing on your fist with the kind of casual authority that takes your breath away every single time.
The experience begins with a thorough introduction to the ancient art of falconry — one of the oldest hunting traditions in human history, with roots stretching back over 4,000 years. Your guide brings real passion and encyclopedic knowledge to the subject, covering everything from how falconers build trust with their birds through a process called manning, to the intricate weight management that keeps a hunting hawk sharp and responsive in the field. Even if you arrived knowing nothing about raptors, you leave feeling like an amateur ornithologist with a story worth telling at every dinner party for the next decade.
Then comes the flying. Watching a hawk launch from your glove, arc across an open Wyoming sky, and wheel back to you on command is the sort of moment that quiets your internal monologue entirely. The landscape around Casper is perfectly suited to this — wide open, windswept, and dramatic in the way that only the high plains of Wyoming can manage. The Laramie Range sits in the distance, the sky feels enormous, and you are suddenly and completely present in a way that no screen can replicate.
Groups are kept small, which means the experience feels personal rather than rushed. Families with older children do wonderfully here, and it makes for an exceptional outing for couples or solo travelers who want something more memorable than another restaurant reservation. Photography is encouraged, and the lighting on those open plains in the afternoon hours is genuinely stunning.
Reservations are recommended since availability fills up, particularly during summer and early fall when the weather cooperates most generously. A quick visit to their website or a phone call is all it takes to secure your spot.
Casper earns its reputation as an outdoor destination through sheer variety — rivers, reservoirs, mountains, and trails all within easy reach. But High Plains Falconry adds something to that list that you simply cannot find everywhere: a living connection to one of humanity’s oldest partnerships with the natural world. Do not leave town without it.
