Taming the Beartooth!
I feel like Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music!
Peering outside of my glass window, hope in my heart as we slowly ascended up, a smile melting on my face as we saw something so incredible, so delightful, so perfect that I could not wait to immerse myself into this journey. Corner after corner we turned, more colors popped, a vivid green, a bright yellow, the royal color of purple and the calming color of blue. This vivid green swept a blanket across the countryside, beckoning me with the wildflowers of brilliant colors springing up to step out and take a chance of a pause in this amazing scenery.
“Please stop,” I would tell my husband as the colors sung to me and I grabbed my camera, stepped out onto this carpet, eagerness in my step. A click here, a click there, as I snagged a photo of this landscape, inhaling deep breaths of fresh, clean air, my heart pattering as each step in this altitude hungered for air.
The Beartooth Highway connects Red Lodge, Montana to the northeastern gate of Yellowstone, approximately 68 miles. It is declared one of the most scenic highways in the United States and should be on your bucket list! It has lakes, wildflowers, incredible mountains with snow that never melts, trees, tundra landscape (no trees but plenty of grass and wildflowers), and a paved road that will take you through it.
Billy goats eating the healthy grass near an alpine lake.
In order to get started, there are a few ways to enter this scenic highway:
If you are staying in Cody, Wyoming, take highway 120 to the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (47 miles in length, but does not seem like it) to access the Beartooth.
If you are in Yellowstone Park, near the northeastern entrance, you could access it right from the gate. You will drive through two delightful towns: Cooke City and Silver Gate, along highway 212
Or if you are near Red Lodge, Montana (another cute town to visit), you can access highway 212 from there.
We happened to traverse through Chief Joseph Scenic Byway as we were staying in Cody, Wyoming. Would you like more information about the Chief Joseph? Click here to find out how you can access this amazing scenic byway! If you have time, explore the Chief Joseph as it is also an incredible scenic byway, with mountains, wildflowers and trees, similar to the Beartooth. The elevation will change as you drive along these scenic roads: You will go from 5500 ft to 10,000 feet in elevation, depending on where you start on the Beartooth.
Generally, they try to open the Beartooth Memorial Day weekend, depending on weather but they could shut it down during the open season if a freak snowstorm came in, and shut it down around early October for the winter season.
A beautiful July day!
Once we pulled onto the 212 during the pleasant month of July, which is the Beartooth Highway, and proceeded north, we drove a little ways and saw an incredible waterfall, with a picturesque view of the Index and Pilot mountains, plus an abundance of wild flowers.
You can walk a short path to this waterfall, near the crossroads of the Chief Joseph and the Beartooth.
Wildflower abundance, plus the Index and Pilot mountains to the right in the background. Gorgeous!!!
You will slightly incline you proceed north on this freeway. There will be places to pull over for photos or have a picnic lunch. Can you tell I like picnic lunches? Food seems to taste better on a picnic. Here is a picture of Beartooth Lake we went for our picnic lunch:
I love all the colors here!!!
Be forewarned: there are mosquitoes in the summer time, so bring plenty of bug spray. Plenty of lakes that unfortunately have thriving mosquitoes, but it is not too bad. You can still enjoy yourself!
Take advantage of any road pullouts, or if you can, there are some dirt roads to drive on. Please check to see if the road is drivable and your vehicle is able to handle the road. You will be 10,000 feet up, so take precaution if you have any breathing problems as there is thin air up there.
We drove on a short dirt road, which was smooth and pulled over for the abundance of wildflowers, with a lake, running water and gorgeous scenery:
Alpine views like these are hard to beat!
No shortage of wildflowers!
Continuing north, there is a small tourist shop, Top of the World, with shirts, snacks, drinks, other tourist things for sell and friendly salespeople. You do feel like you are on top of the world here!
Here is a map, courtesy of Earth Trekkers, that will help you navigate the Beartooth Highway:
Continue to drive north and take your time to drink in the sights. See something you like? Pullover safely, walk around and take photos. I have seen MANY people do this as well as me. :) You will drive on curvy roads, so be careful on those, but hugely scenic!
OMG!!!!!!
When you get to the top, pull over for the Beartooth sign, but not just the sign. You can actually see the tooth of a bear in the mountains. You might need binoculars or a good lens for your camera to capture that incredible photo. It can be windy and cool on top!
Photo op time!!!
Do you see the tooth? It is the triangle at the top of the mountains in the center of the photo.
You will start descending slowly at this point, toward an incredible lake, Gardner. There are plenty of wildflowers here, especially the golden ones, but also depending on what time of year you go.
Gardner Lake, at the tundra level, around 10,000 feet.
Love the wildflowers!
As you leave this abundantly beautiful area, you will be approaching the 45th parallel, where the state lines of Montana and Wyoming meet. Plus you will get another chance to see more wildflowers, more of the purple kind.
Hello Montana!!!!
There is a parking area for you to stretch and walk along these beauties!
At this point, the grass is more flat and not as fluffy as you saw earlier. The wildflowers fade away as you are heading north still, toward the quant town of Red Lodge. But before that, stop at the Rock Creek Vista. The views from here are stunning as the trees are back! You might meet a critter or 2, someone that would like food from you, but not harmful: squirrels. Plus it will prep you for the next journey DOWN!
Yes, you will go down this road that leads to Red Lodge, Montana!
We are on our last part of the journey, and I sometimes think it may be the most difficult: switchbacks. These switchbacks are full of curves, but sometimes they do stretch out to give your nerves a bit of rest. Just take your time going down. You have plenty of it!
A beautiful waterfall will greet you when get down from the switchbacks!
We were hungry for dinner as it was getting close to that time. So we found a place called Bogarts. Bogarts is a restaurant that features Mexican food and creative pizzas, in a rustic environment with friendly service. My food was simply scrumptious! Here is a link to that fabulous restaurant and it comes highly recommended!!! Plus there are plenty of eateries in Red Lodge, one of them including Red Lodge Pizza, which we have visited and loved. Plus they have gluten free pizza!!!
I hope you enjoyed traveling the Beartooth Highway with us! It is simply a wonderous road, full of amazing sights and breathtaking adventures. Summertime is the best time to visit with good weather, but always, double check the weather forecast when you come. Some people go in the fall and the grasses are more of a yellow-brown color without wildflowers. But you will get to see fall foliage which can be fabulous!
If you happen to be in this area, I HIGHLY recommend traversing this magnificent highway as you will not regret it. If you are not in the area, I HIGHLY recommend for you to put it on your bucket list. The Beartooth Highway is something you can brag to your friends about for many years!