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Things to Do at Frontier Town
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A day at Frontier Town was never boring. For me, it was enough just to be in a place where I could live out my fantasies of being in the wild west, but there was much more. Throughout the day, there were scripted "shows" (that used the entire park as their stage) and events (see the Daily Park Schedule). There were two big rides - the stagecoaches and the train - which are shown elsewhere on this site, but there were also many other things to do. This page shows some of those things.
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I had forgotten that Frontier Town ever offered miniature golf until I found the picture to the left that I took on my 1990 visit. There was not miniature golf at Frontier Town when I went in the 1960s and 1970s. I don't remember if the miniature golf was still there when I returned in 1996 and 1997.
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Of course no western would be complete without horses. On the left is a picture of my son riding a horse in the very kid friendly trail ride. On the right is a picture of the horse powered swings. There was also a pony powered carousel - the carousel ponies were alive - but I do not have a good picture of that.
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On the left is a picture of my son and daughter in the canoe ride. After the cavalry would rescue the wagon train from an Indian attack at the ford of the river and accompany it into town, they would enlist new troopers from among the young visitors to Frontier Town. On the right is a picture of my son and my other daughter among the new recruits.
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The rodeo featured plenty of action involving real cowboys from all over the country. But the youngsters in the audience were also involved. I can remember participating in the calf chase when I was a kid in the 1960s. A bill (I forget the denomination - probably a $5 or a $10) would be tied to the tail of a calf. The kids in the rodeo audience would be invited into the arena and lined up at one end. The calf would then be let loose, and the kids would run after it. The kid who caught the bill got to keep it. On the left is a picture I took as the calf headed toward where I was seated. Unfortunately, as can be seen in the picture on the right, my kids were far back in the pack.
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In "Adirondack Mountain Adventure", Art Bensen wrote: I shall never forget that first morning [4 July 1952 - the day Frontier Town first opened to the public]. I was standing at the foot of the path by the ducking pool in my new cowboy outfit. I had never before worn anything like that in all of my life. My ten gallon hat felt strange on my head, my cowboy pants felt tight and uncomfortable and my new pointed cowboy boots hurt my feet. But I was standing there, greeting people and trying to look nonchalant. A mother and a little boy came down the path. When they reached a point about 50 feet from me, the mother was talking to the boy when he dragged his feet to a halt. The mother then left him, came over to me and said very sweetly, 'Would you mind posing for a picture with my little boy? You see, he's a bit timid about asking you because this is the fist time in his whole life that he has ever seen a real cowboy.
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As can be seen in this picture I took on my 1990 trip, pictures of cowboys with kids was always a staple of the Frontier Town experience.
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