Cody Hotels With Jacuzzi in Room

Cody is the eastern gateway to Yellowstone and one of the West’s great Western towns — founded by Buffalo Bill himself, with the town named for him, the Buffalo Bill Center of the West (five museums in one, among the finest Western museums in the country), and the nightly summer rodeo that calls Cody the ‘Rodeo Capital of the World.’ The whirlpool stock serves the Yellowstone-bound summer crowd and the Western-heritage visitor, at more affordable rates than Jackson.

The Wapiti Valley runs west toward the park. The 50-mile Buffalo Bill Scenic Byway — which Theodore Roosevelt called ‘the most scenic 50 miles in America’ — climbs from Cody past the Buffalo Bill Reservoir and through the Absaroka wilderness to Yellowstone’s east entrance, lined with dude ranches and lodges. Powell to the east holds the agricultural-and-college stock, and the scenic Chief Joseph and Beartooth highways open the northern approaches.

The rhythm is overwhelmingly summer — Yellowstone’s season defines it, filling Cody and the valley from Memorial Day through September, with the nightly rodeo and the Western attractions. The east entrance closes in winter, so the town quiets. A whirlpool suite here is the base for Yellowstone’s east side and a genuine Western-town experience — the museums, the rodeo, the scenic byway — at better value than the Jackson side. Book the summer park season well ahead.