This is the Year to Head to the Cody Stampede for an Affordable and Epic July 4 Getaway

CODY, Wyo., April 30, 2025 – July 4 is such a big holiday in Cody, Wyo. that it takes five days to celebrate it. And this year, travelers from throughout the U.S. will find that there are plenty of rooms available due to international travel uncertainty. And as a vacation bonus, visitors can add on a day trip or even an overnight trip in nearby Yellowstone National Park, where visitation is also expected to be down, and rooms are even available during the height of the summer season.

The Independence Day celebration kicks off at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, June 30 with the Xtreme Bulls Tour, a high-octane event that showcases the skills of some of the top bull riders in the country. The nightly Cody Stampede Rodeo begins on Tuesday, July 1, and the rodeo is staged nightly through Friday, July 4. The final rodeo is capped by a huge fireworks show.

Each night of the rodeo features a special theme and tributes to heroes. July 1 is Law Enforcement Night. July 2 is Breast Cancer Awareness Night. July 3 is Military Appreciation Night. And July 4 is Veterans Appreciation Night.

Other events during the five-day celebration include a Cody Stampede Kiddie Parade on July 2 at 10 a.m., and Stampede Parades at 9:30 a.m. on July 3 and 4. The theme of this year’s Stampede Parades is “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys.”

Throughout the celebration, the town of Cody stages a variety of fun events, from free concerts to Independence Day-themed decorations throughout the city. Other events include performances of Wild West Spectacular The Musical on July 3 and 4, Wild West Arts Fest July 2-4, 44th Annual Runner’s Stampede on July 4.

“The Cody Stampede is the highlight of the summer here, and in a typical year, people from all corners of the world come to celebrate the birthday of our great nation,” said Ryan Hauck, executive director of Cody Yellowstone, the marketing arm of the region that includes the towns of Cody, Powell and Meeteetse, a large swath of the Shoshone National Forest and about half of Yellowstone National Park. “With fewer international visitors expected this year, July 4 celebrants will find an abundance of accommodations choices in Cody as well as in Yellowstone National Park. With so many choices of where to stay, dine and play, 2025 is the year that U.S. travelers should plan an epic getaway to Cody Yellowstone for July 4.”

Rooms available

Cody Yellowstone has a huge array of hotels, dude and guest ranches, Bed and Breakfasts, glamping destinations and campgrounds, and many locations still have plenty of availability for the week prior to July 4 as well as the weekend following the holiday. Following is a sampling of hotels that all have rooms available July 1 – 8. Visit the Cody Yellowstone website for a complete list of accommodations.

Best Western Premier Ivy Inn & Suites – This is one of the region’s most exclusive hotels, with upgraded amenities, an on-site restaurant and great location.

The Cody Hotel – This upscale green-friendly hotel is located just one-quarter mile from the Cody Stampede grounds.

The Scout Inn – This centrally located inn includes recently renovated rooms and a popular restaurant.

Buffalo Bill Village – Guests looking for a nostalgic stay will love the freestanding cabins at this historic resort. Also in the Buffalo Bill Village Cabins complex are a Holiday Inn at Buffalo Bill Village Resort and Comfort Inn at Buffalo Bill Village Resort, and both of those locations have rooms available as well.

Hampton Inn & Suites – This hotel is located on Southfork Road near the Cody Nite Rodeo grounds.

Several RV campgrounds also have availability that week including Cody KOA and Meeteetse RV Park.

Affordable

Cody Yellowstone features an array of attractions and adventures, and many of them are free or moderately priced. The destination offers several museums with free admission, including By Western Hands Museum & Gallery, Meeteetse Museums, Pahaska Tepee, Cody Heritage Museum, Dug Up Gun Museum, Historic Cody Mural & Museum, Homesteader Museum and the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center. Other free experiences include browsing the art at the Cody Country Art League and the many downtown Cody galleries. There are moderately priced attractions as well, including the acclaimed Buffalo Bill Center of the West with five museums under one roof, Old Trail Town & Museum of the West and Heart Mountain WWII Interpretive Center.

There are also numerous affordable outdoor recreation activities available throughout the region including hiking in the Shoshone National Forest and other trails throughout the area. Moderately priced adventures include whitewater rafting on the Shoshone River and ATVing to the ghost town of Kirwin.

Buffalo Bill’s Lasting Rodeo Legacy

The roots of the Cody Stampede can be traced to 1896 when William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody founded the town that bears his name. He chose the town’s location 52 miles from the eastern boundary of Yellowstone National Park. There, he envisioned a town that could support not only the ranches and farms throughout the region but also capture the interest – and dollars – of the tourists who were increasingly passing through on their way to the park.

Buffalo Bill Cody is best known as the legendary showman behind “The Wild West Show,” a traveling extravaganza that entertained audiences in the U.S. and Europe with performances that included skilled cowboys and cowgirls hailing from Western ranches who theatrically demonstrated bronco riding, roping and other rodeo-type skills.

It’s no surprise, then, that ranchers living near the town he founded often entertained themselves during their few off hours by engaging in informal contests such as calf-roping, steer wrestling and horse-racing. The contests became a favorite pastime, with town residents gathering to watch the show.

Stampede History

The Cody Stampede is marking its 106th anniversary this year. The Stampede got its start when a group of local leaders including a lawyer, dude ranch owner, newspaper editor and a publicity-savvy and nationally known female novelist met three years after the death of town founder Buffalo Bill Cody to talk about how to transform the town’s small annual July 4 celebration into an event that would showcase Cody’s authentic Western dude ranches and its proximity to Yellowstone National Park.

Among the most vocal of those leaders – and the only female present – was Caroline Lockhart, whose best-selling novels in the early 1900s had earned her fame and fortune. Once the group settled on naming the event the Cody Stampede and sketched a general framework, Lockhart took the reins as president. She set about publicizing it in the Park County Enterprise – Buffalo Bill’s newspaper, which was later renamed the Cody Enterprise, and is still in operation today. She also organized fundraisers and invited famous rodeo performers to demonstrate their skills at the nightly rodeos.

These town leaders had little idea that they would create an annual event that would be enjoyed and remembered by generations of Cody residents and visitors from around the world.

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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.

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Media contact:

Mesereau Travel Public Relations

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