The Beartooth Pass is Utterly Stunning
Charles Kuralt named it the most beautiful roadway in America.
Building & Maintaining the Beartooth Highway
Construction started on this 68 mile highway in 1927 by local Doc Siegfriedt. The Pass was finished in 1936. In general, the road is open from Memorial Day through September/October. The highway opening can be delayed and closing can come early due to weather.
Unless you live in a snow-heavy area, you probably haven’t seen snow removal on this scale.
There are roadside markers jutting up year round so the crews know, mostly, where the highway is located. Drifts topping forty feet can inhibit the snow blowers and road graders as they work to get the piles out of the way.
Red Lodge loves a good festival, so there’s a celebration when the Pass opens. Leave it to the Red Lodge-onians (?) to create a food shack where no restaurant exits.
With 19 switchbacks and the topmost hunk of highway sitting at 10,947 feet, you have to realize that driving this 68 miles isn’t the same as driving flat highway miles from … say Columbus to Livingston (another lovely trek). From Red Lodge to Yellowstone Park, it will take you at least two and a half hours—and that doesn’t include the zillion times you’ll stop to take breathtaking pictures.
Embrace the Beartooth Highway Views
Stopping at Vista Point—9,190 feet—you look across the valley holding the highway and see the Hellroaring Plateau. If you want to hike there, prepare for driving five miles of washboard, pot-holed, narrow-dirt road without guardrails. It’s not for the faint of heart. Descriptions of it remind me of the way folks talk about the Road to Hana on Maui. Don’t do either drive if you aren’t prepared. I’ll settle for the views of the plateau from across the way or enjoy the art of Red Lodge professional photographer Merv Coleman. Merv has some spectacular shots of the Hellroaring Plateau on his website. (Available for purchase at reasonable rates!)If you choose to lunch at Cooke City, remember that this tiny town of 100 residents is all about welcoming visitors on their way to/from the park or driving the captivating detour to Sunlight Basin via the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway.
Don’t Skip Dining al fresco
Our stop was at Long Lake for a water side picnic and the fun of indulging my great nephew in a bit of fishing. The end of June sun was hot and the air warm. Yet scattered pockets of snow demanded to be trod through by kids and adults.
Like the Haleakala National Park on Maui, there can be huge weather differences between Red Lodge and the lakes you stop at for fishing or the trails you hike. The altitude will almost double, so bring appropriate gear. I’ve been snowed-out on the Pass in early June and late August.
Luckily, on this day, we had gorgeous weather and while no fish were biting, we sure enjoyed our lunch (PB&J sandwiches for all except Jackie. She can’t stand the combo. Can you say, un-American?), relaxation and views that never get old, no matter how many times you lay eyes on them.
Flowers burst from the earth and we snap photographs.
Driving the Beartooth Highway back to Red Lodge, we spotted a herd of mountain goats—always a treat to see. The granddaddy of them all was shedding. I wanted to reach out and gather up the wool and knit a sweater.
I don’t knit so the fact that I can’t wrestle a wild animal to the ground to shear it was irrelevant.
Driving the Beartooth Highway & Pass
Make sure you check the weather! When the Pass is closed, Highway 212 is gated shut. Bad weather can strike the mountains at anytime, so be prepared. And relish every curve.
*Read, Red Lodge
I get super nervous when driving on narrow roadways around mountains. And the people behind me get super frustrated because I go soooo slow. But I imagine it is an amazing hike once you get there.
The snow is amazing. I can’t even imagine.
You’d be fine on the Pass, Erica, because there are very few places that any sane person would go fast! The hairpin curves really do demand paying attention and slowing down–nice cautions for my speedy husband!
Wow! Never witnessed snowfall of this magnitude!
Just wondering what the temperature would be!
Looks like a perfect spot to spend a good day. You should have included a few clicks of the food/snacks too.
You like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Tuhin? 🙂 The temperature varies all over the place–all over the gauge–in Montana. When I visited in October it was -2F and up to 70F in a week’s time. So snow on the mountain for our picnic? Maybe 60F. Just perfect!
Beartooth Pass is so beautiful! I didn’t have enough time to make it to that side of the park when I went to Yellowstone this summer, but I do hope to make it back again someday. The wall of snow was high on the road that serves as a trail to the top of Mt. Washburn this June. I really hope this winter is less snowy in my neck of the woods.
And the next time you’re heading there, Jeri, I hope I’m in Red Lodge so we can meet–on the Pass! That’s some crazy snow. I always hope for skiffs of snow–I’m not a fan.
I thought we had big snowfall here in Ottawa, Canada, but it seems like child’s play compared to that. Wow!!
I am so surprised that this is big snow compared to what my Canadian friends see! Well, Montana is Big Sky–everything is big there.
Wow, what amazing photos Rosemary! I have a thing about heights which was always an issue when I drove up to Haleakala, and reading your description of the pass makes me think I’d be doing that – as in taking a pass on that drive! Thank you for sharing with us, looks like you had a wonderful time.
I’ll admit there are parts to the drive that shake my fears a bit, Marquita. But gosh, it is so worthwhile to go up and over and stop and hike and… that said, I couldn’t bring myself to do Haleakala after discussing it with you!
I hope I never see that kind of snow wall again my life. I believe we saw something like that in Grand Teton quite a number of years ago and I was mesmerized.
Ha, Doreen, it’s funny to hear my Canadian friend say that. I only saw a couple of truly heavy snows in Red Lodge a couple of times in my ten years. The call off work kind of snow. Oh yeah, that was fun!
And I thought Buffalo, NY had high snow! Yikes! Not that I travel to Buffalo, on purpose, for that reason. Maybe I shouldn’t go to Montana unless it’s, what would you suggest – July 15?
July is about perfect, Karen. And yes–I’ve been through Buffalo during some big snows. That is so not fun!
Looks beautiful. And peaceful.
What a totally perfect day it was!
It sure was, sister! Wish we’d taken a lot more photos of the crazy family.