Top of the world beartooth pass
The Most Scenic Route to Yellowstone Park
An All-American Road
Dubbed “the most beautiful roadway in America” by On the Road correspondent Charles Kuralt, the Beartooth Highway climbs to an astounding 10,947 feet above sea level. Since its completion in 1936, the Road has awed millions of visitors with its astonishing views of one of the most rugged and wild areas in the lower 48 states.
As it winds its way from the northeastern entrance of Yellowstone National Park to Red Lodge, the Thoroughfare traverses an impressive range of ecosystems – from lush lodge pole pine forests to alpine tundra. At the highway’s summit, travelers find themselves in a sky-high world of glacial cirques, clear alpine lakes, and snow that lingers through the summer months. The brutal climate at this elevation deters the progress of trees and shrubs, and the plants that do mature here have adapted in striking ways. Some convert sunlight to heat, and many conserve fluid the way desert plants perform. In late June and July, the fragile tundra blossoms in a lavish display of wildflowers – shooting stars, columbine, and Indian paintbrush, to name a few.
With 20 peaks over 12,000 feet in elevation (including Gran
Dramatic Scenic Drive on Beartooth Highway to Yellowstone
Named a National Scenic Byway’s “All-American Road,” the Beartooth Highway (U.S. Highway 212) climbs 5,000 feet through lodgepole pine forests leading you to an enchanting world made of alpine lakes, 20 peaks over 12,000 feet, glacially carved cirques and vibrant wildflowers. The highway connects the towns of Red Lodge, Montana with Cooke City/Silver Gate, Montana at the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Weather permitting, it is open Memorial Day through Columbus Day every year.
Start in Red Lodge, Montana
A charming, historic town, Red Lodge, Montana, lies north of Yellowstone National Park, and it is where your route starts if you want to drive the Beartooth Highway from Montana to Yellowstone. Home to about 2,500 residents, Red Lodge is a fantastic place to spend a few days or a week, as the town does an incredible job celebrating its Wild-West past and its present-day mix of residents who include small-business owners and tech-industry transplants.
On Broadway Avenue, the town’s main street, you’ll discover Old West-style saloons and trendy restaurants, along with boutiques, art galleries, a full-s
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Details
- Designation info All-American Road ( 2000 )
- Intrinsic Qualities Natural, Scenic
- Location MT, WY
- Length 38 of 68 total miles
Overview
Welcome to the Beartooth Highway – a National Scenic Byways All-American Road. This 68 mile byway winds its way through southwest Montana and northwest Wyoming and leads into Yellowstone National Park at its Northeast Entrance. Since opening to automobile travel in 1937, the Beartooth Highway has welcomed visitors worldwide – introducing them to one of the most diverse ecosystems accessible by auto in the United States.
Story of the Byway
Heralded as one of the most scenic drives in the United States, the Beartooth Highway, a National Scenic Byways All-American Road, features breathtaking views of the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains, and open high alpine plateaus dotted with countless glacial lakes, forested valleys, waterfalls and wildlife.
The Beartooth All-American Road passes through what is known today as the Beartooth Corridor. Surrounded by the Custer, Gallatin, and Shoshone National Forests, traveling parallel to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, and abutting Yellowstone N
Red Lodge Montana - Highlight: Driving Beartooth Pass
Want to feel on “Top of the World?” Then make sure you drive across the amazing Beartooth Pass in the Absaroka-Beartooth mountains. Named for a jagged mountain peak's likeness to a bear's tooth, this amazing alpine connector, part of the 65-mile Beartooth Highway, serves as a major attraction on the way to Yellowstone National Park's Northeast Entrance.
Completed in 1936, Beartooth Highway climbs switchbacks through Custer, Gallatin, and Shoshone National Forests, connecting gateway Montana communities of Cooke City and Red Lodge as well as Cody, Wyoming.
About 25 miles from Red Lodge, drivers are eye-level with wispy clouds at the highest point of Beartooth Pass, just shy of 11,000 feet! Beartooth Highway still holds the distinction of being the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
Photographers love Beartooth Highway and Pass. It's really difficult to take a “bad” picture. There are several pullouts along the route offering incredible views of Beartooth, Hell Roaring and Silver Run Plateaus, as well as Glacier Lake.
Watch for mountain goats carefully navigating the rugg
Red Lodge, MT
The number one reason we wanted to do a return visit to Red Lodge was the opportunity to drive the Beartooth Highway, one of the most beautiful roads in the country. We have driven the road twice before on motorcycles around the same time of year, but we wanted to see what this heavy snowfall this past winter looked like.
The Beartooth Highway is the section of U.S. Highway 212 between Red Lodge, Montana and Wyoming just north of the town of Cody. It traces a series of steep zigzags and switchbacks, along the Montana-Wyoming border to the 10,947 foot high Beartooth Pass. The approximate elevation rise is from 5,200 to 8,000 feet in 12 miles in the most stunning of landscapes. The late CBS correspondent Charles Kuralt called the road “the most beautiful drive in America.” Most of this blog is made up of pictures, as words cannot describe the beauty of the Beartooth Mountains.
Heading south out of Red Lodge
Snow cover increasing with elevation gain
Looking down at the highway below
About half way across the 30 mile drive is the state line. Crews on the Wyoming side just finished clearing the snow off the highway two days earlier.
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