Cody, WY to Yellowstone National Park: Driving the 52 Miles to the East Entrance
Published
- Distance
- 52 miles
- Route
- US-14/16/20
- Gate
- East Entrance
- Climb
- ~1,900 ft
The most-driven road out of Cody runs west to Yellowstone National Park. Fifty-two miles on US-14/16/20 puts you at the East Entrance, and it is the shortest way into the park from this side of the mountains.
What the drive is actually like
It starts flat. The first few miles out of town are basin country, and then the road enters Shoshone Canyon, passes through rock tunnels, and reaches Buffalo Bill Dam. Beyond the dam the reservoir opens up, and beyond that the road settles into Wapiti Valley and follows the North Fork of the Shoshone for the rest of the way.
The climb is about nineteen hundred feet, spread out enough that it never feels like climbing until you notice the vegetation has changed.
Allow more time than the distance suggests
Fifty-two miles reads like fifty minutes and it is not. The speed limit is a valley-road limit, not a highway one, elk and deer cross at dawn and dusk, and the upper valley has enough rock formations to stop for that most people do.
Plan on an hour and a quarter with no stops and closer to two if you intend to look at anything. Building a Yellowstone day around a fifty-minute approach is the most common scheduling error visitors make here.
The gate is not the destination
Passing the East Entrance station does not put you anywhere in particular, and the entrance is not the top of the climb. Beyond it the road keeps rising to Sylvan Pass at about 8,524 feet before dropping toward Yellowstone Lake, which is where most people are actually heading. The fifty-two miles from Cody buy you the approach. The lake, and everything on the loop past it, is still in front of you.
Do the arithmetic before setting off after lunch. Reaching the gate is a comfortable morning; reaching the lake and getting anywhere near a geyser basin the same day is a full one, and a day trip out of Cody has to count the same road again in reverse at the end of it.
The other climb
North of town the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway does something quite different with its elevation: 3,000 feet, most of it in thirteen miles. Drawing both profiles is the quickest way to understand why they cannot share a day.
Season
The East Entrance road closes with snow and reopens in spring, and neither date is fixed. Confirm it against current park information at either end of the season. This is not one of the entrances that stays open longest.
One more thing about the timing: the gate is a queue in July. Traffic bunches at the entrance station in the middle of the morning, which is precisely when most people set off from Cody. An hour earlier makes a real difference to that, and an hour earlier is easier here than in most places because there is nothing to stay up for on the road.
Cody sits at 5,016 feet. The Yellowstone East Entrance is at 6,951 feet, 52 miles west, a gain of about 1,900 feet. The climb is not steady. The road follows the North Fork of the Shoshone along the valley floor and is still only around 5,600 feet at Wapiti, eighteen miles out. From there it gains steadily and never sharply: roughly 6,200 feet by mile thirty, 6,600 at Pahaska Tepee near the boundary, and 6,951 at the gate itself. What makes the drive take well over an hour is the bends, the surface and the wildlife, not the gradient.
Common questions
How far is Cody from Yellowstone National Park?
Fifty-two miles from Cody to the East Entrance, on US-14/16/20 west through Wapiti Valley. It is the shortest approach to Yellowstone from the east.
How long does it take to drive from Cody to Yellowstone?
Allow well over an hour to the gate, and considerably longer if you stop. The road follows a river valley with a lower limit than a highway, and the wildlife on the verges is a genuine reason to drive slowly.
Is the road from Cody to Yellowstone open all year?
No. The East Entrance road closes seasonally with snow, and the dates move year to year. It is one of the shorter-season entrances.
What is there to see on the way?
Buffalo Bill Dam and its canyon at six miles, the reservoir, and then the whole length of Wapiti Valley with its eroded volcanic rock formations along the upper section.