West Yellowstone

West Yellowstone History

Museum of the Yellowstone

Discover the story of travel to and through Yellowstone National Park at the Museum of the Yellowstone. Explore the history of the park and its Park's influence on the surrounding including the Hebgen Lake Basin and West Yellowstone.

Earthquake Lake Visitor Center

Learn a bit of local history at the Earthquake Lake Visitor Center which gives visitors a panoramic view of the mountain that fell and the lake that was formed in a 1959 earthquake.

Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center

The Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center features grizzlies in a natural habitat as they play in water features, fish in ponds stocked with trout and relate to each other in a sanctuary that gives visitors to Yellowstone area chance to see and learn about grizzly bears and gray wolves.

East Yellowstone and Cody

Cody History

Buffalo Bill Center of the West

The Buffalo Bill Center of the West is home to a must-see collection of five world-class museums covering the size of five football fields. Go back in time to a world of cowboys and cowgirls, Plains Indians, and rugged, untouched landscapes. Museums include the Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, and the Plains Indian Museum.

Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center

See breathtaking views and learn about area wildlife, geography, farming, and the dam construction at the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center. The Buffalo Bill Dam was the tallest dam in the world when it was completed in 1910 - and visitors can walk across the top of the dam and look down 280 feet to the Shoshone River!

Old Trail Town

Experience our rich Western heritage at Old Trail Town. Visitors have a unique chance to see authentic frontier buildings from the 1890's. It's one of Cody's most popular family-friendly western destinations. Step back in time to see the lifestyle and history of the Frontier West with this rare collection of authentic structures and furnishings

Frequently Asked Questions

What museums should I visit on a Yellowstone trip?
On the west side: the Museum of the Yellowstone (the story of travel to the park), the Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center (live bears and wolves in natural habitat), and the Earthquake Lake Visitor Center (the mountain that fell in 1959). On the east side, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody is the region's heavyweight: five world-class museums under one roof, covering the size of five football fields.
What's in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West?
Five museums in one: the Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, and Plains Indian Museum. It's open year-round, genuinely all-weather, and most visitors budget at least half a day. The Cody Hotel makes the natural base.
What is Old Trail Town?
A rare collection of authentic 1890s frontier buildings and furnishings assembled in Cody, where you walk through the actual structures of the Frontier West rather than replicas. It's one of Cody's most popular family stops, and it sits directly across the street from The Cody Hotel.
What happened at Earthquake Lake?
In 1959, a massive earthquake dropped a mountainside into the Madison River canyon near West Yellowstone, creating a new lake overnight. The Earthquake Lake Visitor Center overlooks the slide with panoramic views and tells the story, an easy and moving half-day from any of our West Yellowstone hotels.