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Colter’s Hell

Largely-Extinct Thermal Area

Thermal Area in Buffalo Bill State Park, Rocky Mountains in Cody, WY

Right on the edge of Cody, Colter’s Hell is a largely-extinct thermal area on what was known as the "Stinkingwater River" back in the early 1800’s. The name stems from the disbelief others had when John Colter – mountain man and member of the Lewis & Clark Expedition – described its existence. Shoshone Hot Spring and Demaris Hot Spring are two active features in the area. When heading into Cody, an extinct hot spring cone can be noted on the right side of the highway.

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Colter's Hell is an area of fumaroles and hot springs on the Shoshone River near Cody in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The thermal area covers about a square mile at the mouth of the Shoshone's canyon. Its thermal activity has declined ever since its description by mountain man John Colter, who parted from the Lewis & Clark Expedition prior to its conclusion and passed through the region in the winter of 1807-1808. Colter's account of the features on what was then called the Stinkingwater River has subsequently been confused with the much more extensive and powerful geysers in Yellowstone National Park, which Colter may not have actually visited. Other early descriptions of Colter's Hell date back to the trapper Joseph Meek in the year of 1830 as well as to Plenty Coups, a chief of the…

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Thermal Area