Buffalo Bill SP, Cody WY
We left for Buffalo Bill SP through West Yellowstone entrance and went east at Norris Basin to the East Entrance. It was a beautiful road, through Hayden Valley with bison action and then along Yellowstone Lake’s north shore. Apparently, the water in Mary Bay has underwater vents with recorded temperature of 252 degree! We stopped for lunch along the way, another peaceful site over a small pond. Once we left Yellowstone, we became the Buffalo Cody Scenic Byway, following the North Fork of the Shoshone River. Just beautiful.
We knew there had wildfires along this road, Tom talked to Wyoming DOT agent, who gave him more details about it. We got to mile marker 21 and the fire was close to the road in the peaks, with some small fires closer to the highway. It did not impact our travel, but it was scary.
Buffalo Bill State Park has couple of loops, that are really separate mini-campgrounds. We were in the North Fork section, it’s close to Shoshone River in a valley at the west end of Buffalo Bill Reservoir. Sites are arranged around central open area, so everyone has a great view, very specious. We drover around the different loops of the park and the lake. On the south side of the reservoir, we met up with some wild horses and donkeys (?), according to the camp host, these are quite common in the area.
We noticed and confirmed later with the ranger, that fire command setup their operations just to our south, on the other side of the river. It was impressive with many tents, trailers and even helicopter pad. We learned later that the fire spread and though the highway was not closed, sometimes they had only one lane open with a pilot car guiding the traffic. Anthony went through wildfire training, so was very helpful to hear him provide details of how they do the work. It is now a big problem in the western states, it’s just so dry, there are fire restrictions in most campgrounds.
Cody, WY is a small town, used by many as a gateway to Yellowstone. We enjoyed exploring it especially the museum and later the rodeo. Buffalo Bill Center of the West is really 5 museums in one. We loved Draper Natural History Museum , showing the transition from alpine to plains environment. We met educator, I called her Buffalo Woman, who explained how the Native Americans used all parts of the buffalo for different purposes, nothing was wasted. Then of course the Buffalo Bill Museum, detailing his life, and the Plains Indians Museum. We learned about the chuck wagon and even tasted sourdough biscuits, beans and cowboy coffee. All worth a visit.
We also got tickets for the nightly rodeo and tips as to when to show up and where to sit.
The rodeo was great, I have not had so much fun in awhile! We got there early and sat right above the entryway, it’s called the Buzzard Roost. They had junior steer riding, bareback riding, 13 yr old trick rider, she was great! The kids calf scramble was so funny, they had to grab a bow of calf’s tail. Bull riding was pretty exciting as well. The crowd was involved and everyone seemed to be having a great time.
As Tom is still having issues with his knee, Anthony and I did a short hike in the canyon leading to the Buffalo Bill Dam. A short stop at the Visitors Center, where we learned some of the history of the dam including the fact that the trail we wanted to hike was the original road to Yellowstone. The hike was great, it followed the North Fork of Shoshone River in a beautiful canyon. One section is very popular with climbers, we saw plenty of bolts in the wall. The trail (actually it’s more of a road) takes you close to the dam, there’s a small overlook perfect for pictures.
We enjoyed our visit to Cody and Buffalo Bill Park, now we are off to Little Bighorn for another adventure.
