Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave

The Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave is a short, scenic and slightly offbeat stop that has drawn Denver visitors for more than a century. William F. Cody, the scout, showman and founder of Buffalo Bill's Wild West, the touring spectacle that shaped how the world imagined the American frontier, died in Denver in 1917 and was buried, at his own request according to his family, on the summit of Lookout Mountain above Golden. His grave, a simple stone site ringed by a fence and covered in coins and mementos left by visitors, sits a short walk from a modest museum run by Denver Mountain Parks. Inside, the collection tells Cody's story through posters, firearms, costumes, saddles and personal belongings, along with the stories of the performers who toured with the show, including sharpshooter Annie Oakley and Indigenous performers whose participation was both an opportunity and a complicated chapter in their history. The museum is compact and old-fashioned in the best sense, and an hour covers it well. The real draw for many visitors is the setting: an observation deck looks out across the plains to Denver's skyline, and the drive up the Lariat Loop road from Golden is one of the classic short mountain drives near the city. Admission is modest, and the museum is open Tuesday through Sunday in winter and daily in summer. Pair it with the Lookout Mountain Nature Center nearby, or with lunch and a brewery stop in Golden at the bottom of the hill.

Cody's life was a story he told in front of audiences for decades. He claimed to have ridden for the Pony Express as a teenager, and was a bison hunter for the railroads, a scout for the Army and a Medal of Honor recipient before he turned to the stage. His Wild West show, launched in the 1880s, toured North America and Europe, performing for royalty and millions of spectators with re-enacted battles, trick riding and sharpshooting. Much of this was knowing myth-making, and the visit is a good prompt to think about how Cody's version of the West, with its cowboys and Indians, shaped films, novels and national identity long after his death. The question of his burial place was itself a famous rivalry: the town of Cody, Wyoming, which he founded, long claimed he should rest there, and legend has it that local guards were posted to keep the body on Lookout Mountain.

The drive is half the outing. Lookout Mountain Road climbs from Golden in a series of switchbacks with views over the town, Clear Creek and the plains, and it is popular with cyclists, so drive with care. At the top there is parking, the grave and overlook, the museum and a gift shop and snack bar. Winter visits are quiet and the views can be crystal clear after a storm, but the road can be icy, so check the weather. Allow about an hour for the museum, grave and views, more if you stop at the nature center or picnic in the surrounding mountain park.

This is not a major museum, and visitors with limited time and no interest in Western history might prioritize Red Rocks or Golden instead. But as part of a foothills loop, it fits perfectly: Red Rocks and Dinosaur Ridge to the south, Golden and the Colorado Railroad Museum below, and Lookout Mountain in between. It is particularly enjoyable for families with kids who love cowboys and horses, and for anyone interested in how the image of the American West was invented.