Thermopolis is a town in Hot Springs County, Wyoming, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 3,172. As might be expected from its name and the name of its county, Thermopolis is home to numerous natural hot springs, in which mineral-laden waters are heated by geothermal processes. It claims the world's largest mineral hot spring as part of Hot Springs State Park. The springs are open to the public for free as part of an 1896 treaty signed with the Shoshone and Arapaho Indian tribes. Nearby East Thermopolis is home to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center, a private organization that conducts paleontology digs in the area and maintains a visitor center. The Hot Springs County Museum and Cultural Center has an eclectic collection of memorabilia from local pioneers circa 1890 through 1910. It plans to focus on Tim McCoy, who lived in Hot Springs County from 1912 to 1942, during which he built the High Eagle Ranch about 45 miles west of town. He worked for many years as an actor in what are now called B westerns, or lower-budget cowboy movies in Hollywood. Hot Springs State Park is a park in Thermopolis, Wyoming famous for its hot springs. It is Wyoming's first state park. The park includes a number of businesses: Wyoming Pioneer Home, a state-run assisted-living facility Gottsche Rehabilitation Center The Plaza Hotel Holiday Inn The Star Plunge, a privately operated water-park The Tepee Pools, another private water-park Hot Springs County Memorial Hospital The park also includes bison (in a managed herd), a suspension foot bridge across the Big Horn River, the State Bath House, picnic shelters, primitive boat ramp, flower gardens, and the petroglyph site at Legend Rock (some 25 miles from the main park).
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