Cody and Yellowstone's East Entrance for a Two-Night Road Trip

Cody is about 52 miles from the East Entrance on US-14/16/20. That is the distance to the entrance station. There is still a mountain drive inside Yellowstone to Fishing Bridge and Lake Village, and a separate decision about where to go from there. Give the day enough room for those miles before adding another stop. Cody Yellowstone distance and routing information. Official Yellowstone map.

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For the through trip, The Evergreen is one option for the west-side night if your party fits its existing beds and can eat out. It’s a compact motel with firm occupancy limits and a no-cooking policy, so count children in the room total and plan dinner before arrival. Check The Evergreen for the West Yellowstone night on Expedia. See the room details. If you would prefer an inn or a suite for the trip, compare the room and meal arrangements in our Yellowstone bed and breakfasts and inns guide.

Check three road links for the date you will drive

For regular vehicles, the National Park Service projects the East Entrance to Fishing Bridge segment to be open May 7 through October 31, 2027. The West Entrance and several western segments have an earlier projected opening, April 16. The lake route through West Thumb to Old Faithful over Craig Pass is projected to open May 14. Those are planned dates subject to change. In the week between the projected East Entrance and Craig Pass openings, a drive from Cody to the lake may be possible while the southern connection to Old Faithful remains closed. If the road map shows Canyon, Norris and Madison connected, that northern route may be an option for reaching West Yellowstone. Check every section you need rather than relying on a pin at either end. NPS road status and 2027 projections.

Read the road map in the order you will drive it. First verify Cody to the East Entrance and the park segment to Fishing Bridge. Then check the road from Fishing Bridge to your main stop, including any temporary work or closure. Finally check the full path to your second night’s room and the first road you need the following morning. If you have to start over at the third step, do so while you still have control of the lodging reservation.

A Yellowstone entrance pass is required. NPS says a separate vehicle reservation is currently unnecessary. Read the current pass page for your party, including the rules that apply to non-US residents, and save the details with your driving plan. Yellowstone fees and passes.

Day one in Cody

Put the Buffalo Bill Center of the West on the day when you are already in town. Its five museums give you enough choice to make a shorter visit worthwhile. If you have a couple of hours, pick the subject that would hold everyone’s attention, then leave time for one other gallery. The Draper Natural History Museum is a good choice before a park drive if you want a closer look at the region’s landscapes and animals. Choose the Plains Indian Museum if you want time with the history and living cultures of Plains peoples. Families with different interests can agree on a meeting time instead of trying to walk through every room together. Buffalo Bill Center of the West visitor information.

You can fit the museum and a relaxed dinner into the Cody day more easily than you can fit the museum and a park crossing. If you arrive after the museum’s seasonal closing time, decide whether it is worth holding the next morning in Cody. For a short itinerary with the lake as the priority, keep the early departure. If the museum is your main reason for the Cody stay, move the lake stop later in the trip or choose two nights in Cody.

Use the evening to organize the car for the drive. Buy food and water you can reach without unloading luggage. Save the road page, map and hotel address for offline reference, and check when the second night’s front desk stops expecting arrivals. Where possible, keep your museum time and your road-dependent reservation separate in the plan. If a closure changes the park leg, the time in Cody can still be a good use of the stop.

Day two from the Shoshone River to Yellowstone Lake

Leave Cody on US-14/16/20 along the North Fork of the Shoshone River through Wapiti Valley. This stretch, the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway, is part of the outing. If the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center is open when you go by, it can serve as a short first stop. If you have a long drive to the second room, choose the dam or a later scenic pause and keep one flexible block for the lake. Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway. Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center hours.

Inside Yellowstone, the road crosses Sylvan Pass toward the lake. Use Fishing Bridge as an initial point of orientation. It puts you near the north shore, and the visitor center and trailside museum can add context when open. Lake Village is the better next stop if you want a more unhurried lakeside interval. If the northbound road is open and you have time, Hayden Valley is a possible extension. Choose a legal pullout when stopping and keep the afternoon flexible. NPS calls for at least 100 yards from bears, wolves and cougars, and at least 25 yards from other wildlife. Wildlife sightings can change your timing even if you decide to keep driving. NPS guide to Fishing Bridge and Lake Village. Yellowstone safety guidance.

Choose one main park stop and one optional addition. For a lake-focused day, the main stop is the north shore and the extra is Hayden Valley if the roads and daylight allow. For a westbound day, let the lake be the main stop and spend the rest of the time getting to your room. Old Faithful can have the next morning while you’re already on the west side. A schedule that treats Fishing Bridge, the canyon, Old Faithful and the western exit as equally important is hard to shorten once delays start.

Protect the second night’s reservation

For an in-park stay, check the lodge and its meal service separately. Yellowstone publishes operating dates by facility, and a road may be open before the lodge, store or restaurant you hoped to use begins service. A visitor center can also keep different dates from the facilities beside it. Open the entry for the stop you care about and confirm the hours with the operator. NPS facility operating dates.

For a West Yellowstone night, make an afternoon decision about the western crossing. If you are behind schedule at Fishing Bridge, shorten the list of stops before you shorten the buffer at the end of the drive. Once you reach town, you can use the West Yellowstone gateway guide to keep the next day’s sights on the same side of the park. If your onward travel instead goes north, the Gardiner gateway guide explains the Mammoth and northern range approach.

For a second Cody night, turn around while you still have a comfortable margin for the drive back over Sylvan Pass. If the East Entrance is closed before your trip, keep Cody for the museum and byway as appropriate and plan the park leg from a verified open entrance. The Northeast Entrance can be misleading on a map because its approach roads east of Cooke City also have seasonal closures. Check the entire approach from Cody before treating it as a replacement. NPS park roads and roads outside the Northeast Entrance. Yellowstone seasonal planning.

Reverse the route if you are arriving from the west

Keep the same overnight logic in reverse. If you start in West Yellowstone, visit the geyser area on the earlier western day, while you still have a room there. Then take the next day’s crossing in the direction of Fishing Bridge, Sylvan Pass and Cody. Save most of your Cody plans for the next morning. Trying to meet an afternoon museum closing time adds a deadline to the longest drive of the two nights.

On that eastbound morning, check that you can complete the road from your starting point to Fishing Bridge and then east to Cody. If a closure leaves you with no park crossing, decide whether to drive an outside route or change the order of the trip before setting off. The public highway approach to Cody still needs its own road check. Keep your room confirmation and the museum’s next open day handy so you can decide which booking is easiest to move.

A two-night route is enough for a town day, a lake day and the start of another park morning when the rooms match the direction of travel. On the final evening before you leave Cody, name the road segment that would force you to change your second night. Check its status and decide how you would spend the day if it closes. That one decision keeps the room, the time in Cody and the park visit from depending on the same assumption.