Cody Yellowstone is a Must-See Road Trip Destination with Abundant Attractions and Experiences

CODY, Wyo., June 10, 2026 – The “Great American Road Trip” simply does not go out of style, and for many travelers, packing up the kids and car to head down the road is simply standard vacation procedure. The classic national parks such as Yellowstone are often mandatory stops for these trips, and the surrounding gateway towns offer tremendous opportunities for all members of the family to feed their interests. Northwestern Wyoming’s Cody Yellowstone is just such a place with local attractions and driving options with some of the most stunning scenery in the world.

“Cody Yellowstone has something for every type of road-tripper,” said Michael Wambolt, executive director of Cody Yellowstone, the marketing arm for the region that includes the towns of Cody, Powell and Meeteetse, parts of the Shoshone National Forest and a large swath of Yellowstone National Park. “Just when you think you’ve seen it all, a scenic byway takes you past a glittering cascade, through a pristine forest or to the top of a mountain with a ski area only open during the summer.”

With five scenic byways, the world’s first national park, miles of untouched forests and valleys and abundant wildlife, Cody Yellowstone is a destination that begs to be explored by car.

Travelers who like an immersive and informational driving experience can download free GPS-triggered audio tours with narrative about the road trip. Cody Yellowstone and TravelStorys offer three tours: Hemingway Highways, highlighting the Wyoming wanderings by famous author Ernest Hemingway, who had deep connections to the state; Chief Joseph Scenic Byway; and Cody to Yellowstone along the Buffalo Bill Scenic Byway.

Here are some local drives as well as suggestions for stops along the way:

The Loops

It’s impossible to find a boring driving route here. Using Cody as the beginning and ending point, drivers have a choice of multiple routes that will take them over soaring mountain passes, through fertile farmlands and along running streams and rivers. Historical stops and opportunities for wildlife viewing abound.

Beartooth Loop

Heading north from Cody through the rolling grasslands on Wyoming Highway 120, drivers will pass by the west side of Heart Mountain, a local landmark, before turning onto the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. Continuing over the historic Sunlight Creek Bridge – the highest bridge in the state – travelers should watch for moose and waterfowl as well as a 1,200-foot gorge between the granite Beartooth Plateau and the volcanic Absaroka Mountains. Turning right onto U.S. 212 – also known as the Beartooth Highway – drivers will learn why commentator Charles Kuralt dubbed the road “the most beautiful drive in America.”

Look for Beartooth Basin Summer Ski Area which opens for the summer. Continuing on to Red Lodge, Mont., travelers will see Beartooth Butte and pass many trout-rich ponds and lakes dotting the area before driving the Beartooth Pass, the highest road in Wyoming. To continue the loop, drivers should turn east at Red Lodge onto Montana 308 and proceed through the old coal-mining town of Bear Creek to Belfry, Mont. Upon turning south on Montana 72/Wyoming 120, drivers follow the base of the Beartooth Mountains and Clark’s Fork Canyon before returning to Cody.

Bighorn Basin Loop

This route begins with Wyoming Highway 120 south through the town of Meeteetse and to Thermopolis. Turning north onto U.S. 20 to the town of Worland – the agricultural hub of the region – and then taking U.S. 16 east to the town of Ten Sleep, visitors will be treated to a spectacular view of the Bighorn Mountains. Heading north on Norwood Road, drivers will skirt the base of the Bighorns before joining Wyoming 31 and connecting to U.S. 16-20 from the town of Manderson to the town of Basin. Drivers will pass through fertile ranch and farmlands of the Greybull River Valley on Wyoming 30 west before picking up Wyoming Highway 120 again and returning to Cody.

Bighorn Mountain Loop

This route heads northeast through the towns of Powell and Lovell, past the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area Visitor Center and to Burgess Junction. From there, drivers head south along the west slope of the Bighorn Mountains and through wildlife-rich meadowlands before arriving at the town of Greybull, which derives its name from a legendary albino bison bull that was sacred to American Indians. U.S. Highway 14-16-20 continues west to Cody and offers terrific views of the Absaroka Mountains to the west and Heart Mountain to the north.

South Fork Trip

A good option for Cody visitors with limited time, the half-day drive begins on Wyoming 291 a short drive west of Cody’s Buffalo Bill Center of the West and skirts Cedar Mountain before heading toward the Buffalo Bill Reservoir. The route continues along the South Fork of the Shoshone River and past Buffalo Bill Cody’s original TE Ranch, built in 1895. The road dead ends near Deer Creek Campground.

Yellowstone National Park

Many visitors to Yellowstone National Park will enter and depart on the same day as they continue on their driving vacation. Those home-basing in Cody who want to have a park day have the choice of two gates – the East or the Northeast – and will often use both. There is no right or wrong direction to make a day trip through the park.

Yellowstone’s road system resembles a figure eight with the aptly named Lower and Upper Loops comprising the Grand Loop.

Those entering through the East gate are greeted immediately with a climb up and over Sylvan Pass. At the pass’s summit, look for the howitzer used for avalanche control in winter. A cool stop there also includes a small parking area overlooking the original road that looped back over itself because it was so steep.

After driving alongside Yellowstone Lake stops can include Fishing Bridge visitor center and Lake Village. Choices from there are to head west to West Thumb Geyser Basin and Old Faithful Village or north through Hayden Valley to Canyon Village and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. The road through Lamar Valley – nicknamed the “Serengeti of North America” because of its abundant wildlife – takes drivers to the Northeast Gate and Cooke City, Mont. before catching up with the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.

Some visitors like to get a very early start and head straight to the Northeast gate in hopes of wolf sightings around dawn in Lamar Valley. This valley has been the scene of two of North America’s greatest wildlife conservation successes as bison were protected and brought back from near extinction there more than century ago. In 1995, wolves were reintroduced to the park after they were obliterated some 60 years before.

After leaving Lamar Valley, drivers arrive at Roosevelt Lodge and turn right toward Mammoth Hot Springs or left up and over Dunraven Pass to Canyon Village. Additional stops can include Norris Geyser Basin, Grand Prismatic Spring and Old Faithful.

Regardless of the route, visitors should plan a full day in the park and plenty of stops to enjoy wildlife viewing, geology, history and architecture.

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Home of the Great American Adventure, Cody Yellowstone is comprised of the northwestern Wyoming towns of Cody, Powell and Meeteetse as well as the valley east of Yellowstone National Park. The region is known for rodeos, authentic guest and dude ranches, world-class museums and recreational adventures that reflect the adventurous spirit of the visionaries and explorers who brought the remote region to the world’s attention.

Related hashtags:

#CodyYellowstone

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#CenteroftheWest

#BuffaloBill

#Yellowstone

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Media contact:

Mesereau Travel Public Relations

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