CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE 1 2019 ★ CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE 2 CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE 3 WELCOME TO THE GREAT AMERICAN ADVENTURE. The West isn’t just a direction. It’s not just a mark on a map or a point on a compass. The West is our heritage and our soul. It’s our parents and our grandparents. It’s the explorers and trailblazers and outlaws who came before us. And the proud people who were here before them. It’s the adventurous spirit that forged the American character. It’s wide-open spaces that dare us to dream audacious dreams. And grand mountains that make us feel smaller and bigger all at the same time. It’s a thump in your chest the first time you stand face to face with a buffalo. And a swelling of pride that a place like this still exists. It’s everything great about America. And it still flows through our veins. Some people say it’s vanishing. But we say it never will. It will live as long as there are people who still live by its code and safeguard its wonders. It will live as long as there are places like Yellowstone and towns like Cody, Wyoming. Because we are blood brothers, Yellowstone and Cody. One and the same. This is where the Great American Adventure calls home. And if you listen closely, you can hear it calling you. 4 CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE 5 HISTORY AN ADVENTURE William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody with eight Native American members of the cast of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, MORE THAN ca. 1881–1891. Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming, USA. MS 6 William F. Cody Collection. P.6.0878 Experience real cowboy culture at the Cody Nite Rodeo, which has been 120 YEARS IN running every night in the summers since 1938. Feel the spirit of the land in THE MAKING. nearby Meeteetse, which was a frequent meeting place among Native Americans. If this land could talk, you’d need a comfy saddle. This Yet western history is only the beginning isn’t just anywhere. This is Cody, Wyoming, founded by of Cody’s story. Famous American Buffalo Bill Cody. He tamed the West and launched his abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock @TRIGS_TRAVELS world-famous Wild West Show from here. This is where was born here. Nearby Heart Mountain Annie Oakley went from being a girl with a gun to a Interpretive Center allows guests to The Buffalo Bill legendary sharpshooter. And where Native American experience life through the eyes of Center of the West Tribes, including the Shoshone, Crow, Arapaho and Japanese Americans who were confined has been called Sioux, flourished. This is where adventures have there during World War II. You can see the Smithsonian of the West. always taken place. original mid-century homes ordered from the Sears Roebuck catalog. In all, there Walk in the footsteps of history through charming are more than 40 sites in and around Cody. Visit the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody that are on the National Register of which has been called the Smithsonian of the West. Historic Places. All that’s missing is you. 6 CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE 7 YELLOWSTONE TO SOME, YELLOWSTONE IS AMERICA’S FIRST NAT IONA L PA R K. TO US, IT’S OUR BACKYA RD. It’s hard to tell where Cody ends and Yellowstone Or if you prefer a high-mountain ascent into begins. That’s because the journey to Yellowstone Yellowstone, take the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway is part of the experience. The entrance to into the Northeast Entrance of the park. This route Yellowstone’s East Gate is a breathtaking route will take you through soaring mountains. You that will take you along the mighty North Fork can stop for the spectacular view at Dead Indian of the Shoshone River, which charges through the Summit Overlook. And if you like your adventures volcanic Absaroka Range. Be on the lookout for off the beaten path, take a hike through Clarks grizzlies, black bears, deer, elk, moose, bighorn Fork Canyon and see a breathtaking waterfall sheep and bison as you venture toward the park. in a 1,200-foot granite gorge. Two miles before the park, be sure to explore Pahaska Tepee, the original hunting lodge Whichever way you travel from Cody into built by Buffalo Bill in 1904. Yellowstone, it will be an adventure to remember. 8 CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE 9 OUTDOOR ADVENTURE HERE, THE ADVENTUROUS SPIRIT OF THE WEST IS ALIVE AND WELL. When you’re surrounded by majestic mountains, pristine rivers and a sky so clear you can see for miles, it’s easy to be inspired. Cody Yellowstone is a natural playground. Whether you like your adventure on land, in water, by air or dangling from a granite cliff, there’s something here to captivate you. You can explore three distinct mountain ranges—the Owl Creek Mountains, the Big Horn Mountains and the Absaroka Range— with 46 peaks higher than 12,000 feet. Each has miles and miles of hiking and biking trails. If water adventures are more your speed, there’s the Clarks Fork, the Greybull, the Wood, the Big Horn and the North and South Forks of the Shoshone. These rivers are home to world-class fishing for browns, rainbows and cutthroats, and our local guides can take you to places that only the locals know about. These rivers are amusement parks for thrill-seeking kayakers and rafters. Nothing captures the adventure and spirit of the West quite like wild mustangs. Just outside Cody, in the McCullough Peaks Wilderness Area, is one of the last remaining herds of wild horses. Don’t forget your binoculars and camera. @ZTBURTON @M.IMHOFF.PHOTO 10 CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE 11 EXCURSIONS ONE ICONIC DAY IN CODY. If you have only one day to visit Cody, here’s how you make it the best day of your trip. As you explore, remember that you are surrounded by history and adventure, because this is where the Wild West lives on. MORNING The collection includes masterpieces from Fredric Wake up early and head Remington and Charles M. downtown. Grab a stiff cup Russell. Don’t miss Edgar of cowboy coffee at one of the Paxson’s famous painting independent coffee roasters of Custer’s Last Stand; or a hearty plate of biscuits this massive work of art and gravy—because you’ve took more than 20 years got a big day ahead of you. to complete. Then venture into the Plains Indian First stop after breakfast: Museum, where you’ll the Buffalo Bill Center of come to understand the the West. You’ll want to start Plains Indian people—their here, because you could culture, traditions, values spend the whole day inside. and history. It’s actually five museums for one admission price. Relive the amazing life and times of Buffalo Bill Cody and the West he loved. His journey took him from Pony Express rider to buffalo hunter to becoming the most famous person in the world—and this adventure @DMBARBERIO is chronicled in the Buffalo Bill Museum. The Whitney Western Art Museum is Grab a stiff cup of cowboy coffee at one of the independent coffee one of the finest western roasters in Cody. art galleries in the country. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody in show costume with rifle and saddle, ca. 1900. Hand colored by Adolf Sphor, 1958. Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming, USA. MS 6 William F. Cody Collection. P.69.1483 12 CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE CODY YELLOWSTONE VACATION FIELD GUIDE 13 Grab a quick bite for Supper Club on the left. those aren’t peep holes; Queen Victoria after she lunch at the Eatery or Now a steakhouse and bar, they’re bullet holes. Old saw his Wild West Show. downtown before heading this establishment was Trail Town was voted “Best You’ll be standing right to the world-renowned originally a brothel started Tourist Attraction and where legends like Teddy Cody Firearms Museum, by Cassie Waters—widow, Historical Site” by Roosevelt, Annie Oakley and which has the most madam and respected True West Magazine. of course, Buffalo Bill once comprehensive collection businesswoman. stood. Enjoy a cowboy cut of American firearms in Daylight is burning, and of Irma’s famous prime rib the world, with more than there are still some can’t- before you head out to the 37,000 artifacts. Finally, miss stops. Head to the new next stop. explore the Draper Natural Cody Heritage Museum History Museum, where and step back in time to you’ll have an immersive learn about the town of EVENING experience into the Greater Cody, from its humble Finally, if there’s one can’t- Yellowstone ecology and beginnings of dirt streets miss activity in Cody, it’s natural history. to the Burlington Railroad the Cody Nite Rodeo. Since coming to town and an 1938, the toughest cowboys @DORAGARYTRAVEL airport being built. Then it’s and roughest bulls around AFTERNOON on to the Irma Hotel in the have tangled every night Head west, young man, Discover what life in the Old West middle of town. The historic throughout the summers. or so the saying goes. was really like in Old Trail Town. Irma was built by Buffalo It’s the perfect way to cap Because you’re about to Bill to honor his beloved off a night in Cody—and feel what life in the Old Now on to Old Trail Town, daughter Irma.