Discover Powell: Museums, History, and Parks

Powell offers several points of interest to help you plan your trip: exhibits on history, local recreational activities, and an annual fair. Each focuses on different themes. The Homesteader Museum explores Powell’s domestic culture in the early 20th century; the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center covers the internment of Japanese and Japanese American people during World War II.

Museums and History

The Homesteader Museum’s permanent exhibits use photographs and artifacts to depict domestic culture in Powell in the early 20th century. An interactive exhibit area also includes a Burlington Northern combination caboose. This allows the museum to pair its depiction of everyday life with an interactive exhibit feature.

At the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, visitors learn about life at Heart Mountain through photographs, artifacts, oral histories, and interactive exhibits, from the perspective of the Japanese and Japanese American people interned there during World War II. The center also covers the wartime relocation of Japanese Americans, the history of anti-Asian prejudice in the United States, and the factors that led to their forced relocation and internment. It is located off Highway 14A, about ten minutes from Powell.

The paved Setsuko Saito Higuchi Interpretive Trail is ¼ mile long. It leads through key moments in Heart Mountain’s history and points out surviving features of the camp. At the Heart Mountain National Historic Site, some landmarks from the former Heart Mountain Relocation Center remain; other landmarks were present while the center was operating in the 1940s.

Art at Northwest College

A work of art also draws on the area’s landscape: Northwest College in Powell incorporated the sculpture “Landform Journey” into the two-story fireplace in its Student Center. The sculpture was inspired by the topography of nearby Heart Mountain and the Bighorn Basin. This offers another way to engage with the themes of landscape and place alongside the historical depictions.

Parks and Water Recreation

Powell has ten city parks covering about 125 acres. The city parks also include 1.5 miles of paved paths for walking and biking, as well as a fishing pond. The acreage refers to the parks, while the path length refers to the paved routes for these two activities.

The Powell Aquatic Center is an indoor aquatic recreation facility in Homesteader Park on Highway 14A. The leisure pool features a beach entry, a splash pool, a lazy river, a water walk, and a seating area for relaxing. There is also a 25-yard lap pool with eight lanes and a diving board. This distinguishes the features of the leisure pool from those of the lap pool as you consider which better suits your plans.

Fair, Agriculture, and Golf

The Park County Fair is an annual event in Powell, held during the last full week of July. It showcases the region’s agricultural heritage with livestock, youth exhibits, artists, and food. If you’re planning your trip around the fair, check the exact event dates for that year.

Powell’s Interpretive Agriculture Tours give visitors the opportunity to learn how agriculture works in the desert and meet local producers. The Powell Golf Club is seven miles east of the city of Powell and offers an 18-hole golf course for all skill levels. These activities appeal to different interests: the tours focus on agriculture and local producers, while the golf club offers a course for golfers of varying skill levels.

Discover more destinations: Cody.

Return to the main travel overview: Park.