Buffalo Bill statue outside the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.
West Thumb Geyser Basin mudpots or paintpots.
CODY, WYOMING Just 53 miles east of Yellowstone’s East Entrance along US 14-16-20, called the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway, the town of Cody is an affordable launching point to the national park. The highway follows along the meandering path of the North Fork of the Shoshone River, carving through parts of the Absaroka Range’s jagged peaks and sloping mountains, with some of the dramatic rock formations almost looking like giant stone cathedrals with spires. Before entering Cody, I drive along Buffalo Bill Reservoir and State Park against a backdrop of mountains for several miles. The highlight here, however, is the Buffalo Bill Dam and Visitor Center where the monstrous water retention wall reminds me of the Hoover Dam. In fact, this dam was the biggest one in the U.S. before the Hoover Dam was built. Cody was actually founded in part by William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, the legendary Wild West icon, and it seems his presence still remains. A bronze statue of the gunman, soldier, Indian fighter, and buffalo hunter, with his thick goatee and long hair, clutches a rifle outside the Irma Hotel, built by Cody in 1902 and named after his daughter. Inside the hotel, photos of gunslingers hang on the walls of the popular restaurant with an original cherrywood bar gifted to William Cody by England’s Queen Victoria. “Buffalo Bill was the most famous man in the world for years, so he had connections from all over,” says Ryan Hauck, Executive Director of Cody Yellowstone and the Park County Travel Council. And many say the hotel is haunted.
holes—the more than 150 of them within a square mile making this area the world’s most densely packed geyser region. Boardwalks along the Upper Geyser Basin weave around pools, fumaroles, mud pots and craters with names such as the Blue Star Spring and Sulphide Spring, and the Plume and Beehive geyser spouts, many with mineral encrusted rings. Grand Geyser erupts every eight or so hours with water spouting up to 180 feet. At the end of the walking path, the thermal waters’ bacterial life creates orange, green and yellow rings within the Morning Glory Pool. Making nearly a full circle around the South Loop, I reach the West Thumb Geyser Basin, particularly worth a visit to see the muted aquamarine tints of the bubbling pools, some chalky and milky, while others sparkle clear to the bottom. The basin skirts the shores of Yellowstone Lake, with close-up views of a few thermal holes bubbling out of stone bases in the water.
Old Faithful erupting.
YELLOWSTONE AND BEYOND
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