This post on Cody Wyoming was first published in June 2013 and has been updated with additional pictures and a new video.
After four days, I left Yellowstone looking forward to getting back to some civilization. I enjoyed my visit to this huge National Park and it merits a return visit.
My route out of Yellowstone went north over Dunraven Pass and then I headed for the northeast entrance. I planned to take a northerly route over the Beartooth Scenic Byway to Red Lodge, Montana and then turn south back to Cody.
View from Dunraven Pass
Beartooth Highway
The Beartooth Byway tops out at a little over 10,000 ft. The northern section to Red Lodge had just opened. I started out climbing up to Beartooth Lake. It was a beautiful sunny day. There were some ups and downs and I noticed the antilock mechanism on my front brakes was kicking in every so often around the corners. I‘m not sure if there was some gravel in the road or if my brake pads were glazing from over heating. But with more climbing to go and more downhills, I couldn’t take a chance on roasting my brakes. I decided to turn back and take the easier route into Cody over the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.
View from the Beartooth Scenic Byway
Turn out on the Beartooth Highway
I drove the first 30 miles of the Beartooth and got some good pictures. But the rest of the road would have to wait until another time. I would not be disappointed with the Chief Joseph Byway. This road cuts southwest across the Absaroka Range It tops out at Dead Indian Summit at a little over 8,000. No snow-covered peaks, but it goes thru some very scenic canyons, climbs over mountains, and drops down into the Big Horn Basin.
View from Dead Indian Pass
Cody, Wyoming
Cody sits at the foot of the Absaroka Range at an elevation of 5,000. It’s a gateway into Yellowstone but it’s also a real cowboy town of 9,000 people. Like some of the other small towns in Wyoming, it’s an island of people surrounded by miles and miles of undeveloped open range. Like Jackson, Laramie, Lander, and Dubois, Cody still has most of its businesses along a wide Main Street. It has a real western feel.
Buffalo Bill Center
Two of the big attractions are the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and the Cody Nite Rodeo. I visited both. The Buffalo Bill Center is made up of five distinct museums; one dedicated to natural history, one on Buffalo Bill’s Life, a firearms museum, a museum on plains Indians, and a western art museum.
Cody Nite Rodeo
That evening I went to my first rodeo at the Cody Nite Rodeo. From June through August, there’s a rodeo every night at a small outdoor arena (there were maybe 400 people in attendance). It’s all local folks (amateurs) competing at real PRCA rodeo events like bareback riding, saddle bronco riding, barrel riding, calf roping, and bull riding .
Its great local entertainment much like going to a AAA baseball game or a local race car track. They put on a great show and display great talent at the horse riding, roping, and riding bucking animals. It’s the real deal complete with rodeo clowns and pickup men.
I was very enjoyable and entertaining. The rodeo clowns get the kids involved between events. The funniest part of was an event where they had a contest with about 8 kids to see who could act out the best at being shot. It was hilarious.
Here’s a real short video of some of the scenes from the rodeo.
I spent two days in Cody and would recommend it as a stop if you‘re going to Yellowstone or in northern Wyoming. The town was busy with lots of RV’s passing through. I stayed at the local KOA (my planned stop, the Absaroka RV Park was full), which was pricey but after staying in Yellowstone, I needed utilities and a laundry. The local Wal-Mart had about 20 RV’s overnighting in their lot.
Downtown Cody, WY
After two days in Cody, it was time to move on. I continued heading east across the Bighorn Basin to Sheridan, WY.
