Visiting Yellowstone National Park
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West: the very “Center” of the Wild West—and just east of Yellowstone!
Headed to Yellowstone National Park? A stop at the Center of the West on your way will enhance your visit to the nation’s very first national park! Our museums highlight the Yellowstone region’s incredible wildlife; display stunning paintings of the park’s intriguing geysers, waterfalls, and landscapes; and interpret the natural history and science of this amazing ecosystem.
We’re the perfect place to begin—or end—a trip to Yellowstone National Park, just an hour west of Cody.
The Center of the West is at 720 Sheridan Avenue in Cody; these directions will help you find us.
The Center is open 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. every through the summer season; click here for year-round hours information.
In our Draper Natural History Museum…
Your journey through the Draper will introduce you to the ecology and natural history of the Yellowstone area, complete with sights, sounds, and even smells. Learn about the wildlife, plant life, and prehistory as you take our interactive tour.
Take a Video Introduction:
See our recommendation of four videos to watch before visiting Yellowstone.
Before you see the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone in person…
…see it as artists have over more than a century. These works—and more of this iconic site in Yellowstone—are part of the amazing collection of our Whitney Western Art Museum:
Lower Falls of the Yellowstone in a 2013 photograph. 
Albert Bierstadt’s “Yellowstone Falls,” ca. 1883. 2.63
Kathy Wipfler’s “Lower Falls,” 2006. 10.07 (detail) 
William R. Leigh’s “Lower Falls,” ca. 1915. 11.88
The Center of the West’s staff loves Yellowstone National Park too!
Enjoy these blog posts and gain some personal insight into the park as well:
- Grizzly bears and whitebark pine in Yellowstone
- Moose of Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks
- Greater Yellowstone grizzly bears and army cutworm moths
- Wolf as villian or hero?
- Yellowstone grizzly bears and winter hibernation habitat
- A winter trip to Yellowstone
- Yellowstone wildflowers in early summer
Yellowstone National Park information
By phone:
- 307-344-2117: Road conditions and weather information
- 307-344-7381: General park information
- 307-344-7311: Lodging and campground information
