After exploring East Yellowstone we continued into the Shoshone National Forest and all I can say about this area is WOW. This might be the most beautiful National Forest I have ever been in and it reminded me of Utah with big trees. The rock formations were absolutely stunning. Let me just show you.
There was even a cool gift shop (Buffalo Bills historic hunting lodge) and I snagged a couple of cool magnets.
The absolute best section is at the easternmost part of the National Forest where the rock formations are said to look like Old Jerusalem. Look for a nice parking area and a beautiful concrete path which you can walk right down to the water. Definitely worth a stop.
After leaving the Shoshone Forest we drove through Buffalo Bill State Park which has a huge lake and a dam you can tour. Since we had Jack we didn’t do the tour but it looked interesting. They also had some cool old tunnels that we went though. Jack wasn’t so sure what to think about that.
Next was a place called Hellfire Canyon. This is a small geothermic area along a river and I can see why folks were kind of freaked out by it back in the day.
Finally we hit Cody, which is a farther drive than I thought it would be. There is some cool stuff there but because we had Jack we couldn’t do any of it and we took a quick drive around and then headed back. We would like to go back sometime without Jack but doggy daycare has been a challenge in this area. Since Cody has not one but two Chinese buffets (the only ones we have seen in the entire western Montana/Wyoming area we will definitely make an effort though. Plus there is a really nice Wild West museum.
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Camper Chronicles 
Hey guys, we are staying in Island Park this summer. If it would help, I’d be happy to come let Jack out to do his business partway through the day if that would allow you to take a longer trip to Cody. We know you through Howard, and I think we know most of your buddies from there 😀
That’s super nice of you. If nothing else we should get together for a meal. Connie’s restaurant I’m Island Park is great . Send me an email and we can set something up ! Camperchronicles@gmail.com
That big boy statue was there when we were there a couple of years ago too, we always wondered why it was there. There’s a mansion on that same road, that you should have passed, it’s called the Smith mansion you should look it up. We loved Cody, especially the rodeo.
Thanks . Unfortunately the rodeo is in the evening so we would have to spend the night or drive through Yellowstone at night which I’m not crazy about. Looks cool though 😄
You MUST go to the museum in Cody! Also, drive the Beartooth Highway if you haven’t already.
Unfortunately we can’t get to the bear tooth and parts of it are still closed due to flooding 🙁