heart mountain interpretive center

WOW - hardly says it all! While traveling across the country we "happened onto" this location. We are so glad we did! We spent quite a time going thru the interpretive center at Heart Mountain Reolcation Center and wishes we'd had more time! Below there is a question on how long to allow to see this - well, you can "do it" in an hour - but . .not recommended. Take all the time you can!As others have shared, this is where thousands of Japanese Americans were relocated during WW II. We are from CA and have visited the Manzanar Relocation site near Bishop, California, over the years - wanting our children to know about this part of our history. (Long ago it was just a spot off the road with a marker. I've heard it now has more to it.)Heart Mountain is incredible. Our tour started with a well-done video sharing some of what happened during that time; if I remember correctly, it was done by a family relative. There is a general area and then also a barracks area - from the outside looking like what the living quarters were, and on the self-guided tour through, you go from room/building to building where the exhibits are outstanding - ranging from life-sized "cut-out" photos of people - SOOO life-like I was startled as I entered a new area, copies of letters, pictures and explanations of the many different aspects life in the internment camp - including medical, school, boy scouts!, fire fighting, etc. There is also a gift shop.There is also a memorial walk - VERY interesting. There are markers sharing what you are seeing in the distance as well as about some of the people there. It was done in memory of one of the internment camp residents. There were a couple/few benches for sitting.This was truly a place for learning about history and contemplation - words are truly inadequate to describe it.

Great for learning about FDRs concentration camps...great museum...wish there were more buildings left standing to see and go into. It is what is...site staff great and friendly. Nice presentations...

This is such a moving museum. The layout is done with so much thought and respect. I think that everyone - not just tourists would benefit from a visit. It is well worth some time.

This is a place where the stories you read and heard of in history are live. The musuem may be a bit pricey but the area has a walking path of history that cost nothing more then time. Learn of the sacrafices these American Japanese gave for the country they called theirs. Many of them served in our armed forces and they are listed here. Visit during the cold winter months and feel the harshness they survived delivered at the hands of the country they belonged too. If you think it is not worth your time you are wrong. Take the kids so they can see as they are our future and repeat of such an event will not happen again. Done truly magnificent with actual and true cases being protrayed. This is a must stop even if you are not history buffs.

I think everyone should visit Heart Mountain. This really happened, it is not just a story in a book. It really makes you think of what everyone was going through during this time in our history. Our leaders, their thought process, the Japanese (Americans) and their thoughts. Amazingly, even though their country, the US took them from their homes, their business and relocated them to several camps, one being Heart Mountain, they did what they were told because this is what their country asked of them. I think that was the most shocking thing to me, that they did what they were told and made the most of it. Started businesses, started a newspaper and went on with live as best they could. No uprising, no riots, interesting. The camps, even tho they were locked down camps, provided a large school, with dances and Proms. There was a hospital, fire department, a council, this was a town, just behind a fence.

I’d been avoiding going to Heart Mountain ever since it opened, because I knew it would be painful. But when some out-of-town friends were visiting recently, it seemed like the perfect opportunity for us all to make the trip. I’m so glad we did. Was it distressing to know what we, as a nation, did to our Japanese-American citizens? Indeed it was. But, if enough of us relive this part of our nation’s pain, perhaps it won’t happen again. And the museum/center did such a great job of presenting the stories of those who lived through this part of our painful past! One of the hopeful messages I took home was the great resilience of the human spirit – how the families who lived here used their creativity and vitality to rise above it all, on so many levels. Don’t miss this well-done interpretive center.

Heart Mountain Interpretive Center is at the site of an internment camp where more than 750 Japanese and Japanese Americans were confined during WWII. Markers at an outdoor area show where different areas of the camp were located; they tell what happened there. The interpretive center building uses excellent displays to present the people who were sent to the internment camp and tell of their life during the wartime years. At Heart Mountain we found one of the most moving educational experiences we've ever encountered.Heart Mountain Interpretive Center is a short 20 minute drive from Cody. Visitors can easily spend 2 hours for both the outdoor and indoor exhibits. Make the time to experience Heart Mountain and learn of a sad chapter in our history.

Once a terrible piece of our history and now a terrific lesson for our future. They've done an excellent job of presenting the World War II Internment Center. Thank you!

We did not know this camp existed in this area. It was very interesting and we learned a lot. It's a shame what we did to these innocent people.

The Heart Mountain Interpretive Center is a really wonderful presentation of a really tragic episode in American history--one I didn't hear about until grad school in American Studies! The Center arranges the exhibits in chronological order, so we see the lives of Japanese-American families in the West prior to Pearl Harbor, and then go from room to room to see them evacuated from their lives to what was a barren, windy, bleak pace in Wyoming. The spirit of the people who made the desert bloom, who recreated some semblance of "normal" under horrible circumstances, and who even volunteered to fight with and for the nation that had incarcerated them--it is a powerful story. Be sure to stop if you are heading to or from Cody, Yellowstone, etc. You'll learn much!

The Heart Mountain Interpretive center gives visitors insight into the experience of Japanese Americans as they were "re-located" during WWII after Pearl Harbor. Living conditions and amenities were substandard, at best, but the residents did what they could to make the most of their situation. The museum depicts the events and lives of those who lived in the "camp" through various artifacts and multimedia presentations. Only a small fraction of the original camp grounds are accessible to visitors, but at the top of the hill above the center is a short, self-guided walking tour and a few remaining buildings of the hospital complex. I highly recommend a visit here as both an educational experience from our past and a lesson that is not to be repeated in the future.

Just happened to see an article in this in a visitors magazine just before driving by. Stopped here and was speechless after learning about the treatment of Japanese-Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I think everyone traveling by should stop and take a moment to learn of this atrocity that they don't mention in history classes. Even my young kids were struck by treatment of these unfortunate individuals.

Heart Mountain is an experience that everyone should have. In addition to being informative about an epoch in our nation's history that often gets the short shrift, the impact of hearing the stories of the people interned here is moving and lasting.The center and grounds (There is a Guard Tower and up on the hill are two of the barracks) are good for the better part of a full day.Comparing it to Manzanar, I'd say it's not quite as developed, yet, but that the raw feeling I got there enhanced the experience.We live in Los Angeles, and it took us two hard days of driving to reach Cody. The stark emptiness, the utter sense of loneliness that these people must have felt being so far from home, is the feeling that the center was able to convey.Fantastic place to take your family as every American should know this story.

This museum is worth your time! It is well done with engaging presentations as you move throughout the museum. It includes many "touch" displays for children. It is a museum that respectfully explores the complex issues surrounding the internment of Japanese Americans at the Heart Mountain camp during WWII. The visitor can expect to feel many differing emotions, sometimes in conflict. There are moments of sadness, frustration and possibly anger as you explore. But there are also moments of joy, courage and amazement as you read of these American citizens and how they coped with these unique circumstances. From the opening film presentation to the last exit display, our family of 8 (our children are aged 4-20) was engaged in this part of U.S. history.

Soon after the bombing at Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans from the West Coast of the U.S. were put into confinement camps like this one. The knowledgable person at the front desk gave us an overview of why the facility was constructed. There was an excellent movie and exhibits. Do take time to drive out of the valley and up to the memorial and short walking path. Pull out the map provided at the museum to get a better understanding of the magnitude of the facility. I left here much better informed, and also thinking about the various motives for why this "camp" and other camps were constructed.