Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center - Cody, Wyoming
Stop By the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center- Cody, Wyoming. On your way to Yellowstone National Park, coming from Cody Wyoming, you will find the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center. The dam was built around 1905 and was originally known as the Shoshone Dam because it was located on the Shoshone River. However, the name was later changed in 1946 to honor Col. William F. Cody, also known as Buffalo Bill, who began the development of the dam. This dam stands at a staggering 353 feet tall and is 200 feet wide, and 108 feet at the base. The dam was designed to be the largest dam in the world as it helps to irrigate over 93,000 acres in the Big Horn Basin.
The Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center is open seasonally from May to September from 8am to 8pm and admission is free. At the visitors center you will find not only spectacular views of the dam and river but also a wonderful gift shop where you can purchase novelties, posters, post cards, even books and videos. The dam is located just miles from the Buffalo Bill Historic Center in Cody, Wyoming. At the historic center you can find a variety of different museums like the Cody Firearms Museum, Plains Indian Museum, the Whiney Gallery of Western Art, the newly added Draper Museum of Natural History and, of course, the Buffalo Bill Museum.
Although construction on the dam started in 1905 it wasn’t completed until mid January of 1910. The reason that it took so long to complete was because they were faced with many challenges including flooding and bankruptcy. After the dam was finished it had set cost back nearly $930,000, for back in 1910 that was considered a hefty amount of cash.
In 1993, the project to raise the Buffalo Bill Dam was completed. This projected was started in the mid 1980’s and was intended to raise the dam 25 feet so that it could hold 50 percent more water than before. The project took seven years to complete, which was performed by the Bureau of Reclamation, but didn’t begin to fill until 1993.
If visiting the nearby town of Cody, make sure to take the short six mile trip west in order to stop by the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center and to see this gigantic beauty. However, be sure that you arrive during their open season, between May and September, because if you don’t you will be disappointed to find that there is no one to let you in.
Cody has a number of other attractions as well and you will want to find excellent hotel accommodations for your stay. Visit HotelsCombined.com for the best rates.
4808 North Fork Hwy
Cody, WY 82414
307-527-6076
[…] a place of interesting history and there is no better place to learn about that history than the Buffalo Bill Dam Visitor Center, Cody, Wyoming. Formerly known as the Shoshone Dam, the Buffalo Bill Dam was named after Col. […]