10 Yellowstone Trip Tips

CODY – Trips to Yellowstone National Park and the surrounding area are poised to come roaring back, and Cody Yellowstone is suggesting advance planning. Here are 10 tips for people planning that Cody Yellowstone vacation:

• Start by ordering or downloading the 2023 Cody Yellowstone Adventure Vacation Guide for information about the destination, lists of lodging options and itinerary ideas. Keep it handy and refer back to it.

• Map out your itinerary. Make sure you account for distances. Just because Wyoming takes up the same size page in the atlas as, say, Illinois doesn’t mean it takes the same amount of time to go from border to border.

• Choose lodging and make reservations early. Cody Yellowstone is home to an array of several types of accomodations. Even campgrounds are expected to near sell-out next year, so Hauck suggests making reservations as soon as possible.

• If you can, travel before June 20 or after Aug. 15 for the best lodging availability. Most of the region’s summer-season attractions kick off June 1 and travelers – especially those with school-age kids – don’t typically start hitting the road until after mid-June.

• Take the Cody Trolley Tour, ideally at the beginning of a visit. This fun and informative one-hour tour travels around the town and as far as the Buffalo Bill Dam while an on-board narrator introduces riders to the town’s attractions, history and legends.

• Visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Capping the west end of Sheridan Avenue – Cody’s main street – this sprawling facility with five museums under one roof should be on every visitor’s must-do list. Travelers heading to the park will find the Draper Natural History Museum to be a great pre-trip orientation, as exhibits showcase the wildlife and natural history of the Great Yellowstone ecosystem. The other museums are the Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum and Cody Firearms Museum.

• Experience the Cody Nite Rodeo. The longest running summer-season nightly rodeo in the country, Cody Nite Rodeo is a fun and memorable experience for the entire family.

• Pack smart. Weather in Cody Yellowstone can vary greatly throughout the summer, and travelers should be ready for temperatures that typically range from the 70s to the 40s. Visitors should also plan for a high-altitude experience and bring plenty of sunscreen and refillable water bottles.

• Dine around. As travelers might expect, there are plenty of places to find a great steak, but there are also restaurants that specialize in local and sustainable food, ethnic cuisine, sandwiches and diner fare.

• Live the history. Numerous attractions showcase the history of the region, including Old Trail Town and Museum of the Old West, Buffalo Bill Dam & Visitor Center, Cody Heritage Museum and the powerful Heart Mountain World War II Interpretive Center – the site of an incarceration camp where 14,000 Japanese-Americans were imprisoned during World War II. For