68 Miles of pure Wow!
This was Day 33 of a 35 day trans-continental journey that took us to both North American coasts. After 2,000 miles of seemingly endless, flat corn fields and cattle ranches that started on Day 26 departing from Pittsburg, we finally hit a sweet spot back in the mountains of the American West. Don’t get me wrong, we loved seeing the heart of the country (twice), but there is something about travelling through a landscape that has it’s gradations measured in thousands of feet, instead of just yards.
I’ll probably do a transcontinental thread, but this 120 mile, seven hour segment, warrants it’s own special feature. Obviously not quite up there with mjn77 and dutchm2 current threads with their 38 Swiss Alp passes, but this one pass is good, nonetheless.
Day 33 Route. Beartooth Highway is between the red dots.
Eastern Montana was the route back after exiting North Dakota. I wanted to drop into Yellowstone and do a surgical strike at Artist Point, which overlooks the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and also the spectacular Lower Yellowstone Falls. Somehow in all my trips there (7), I seemed to have missed this particular viewpoint. The plan was to drop down out of Montana just below Billings, turn west at Cody on Hwy 14, enter the park at through the East Entrance and then up to Artist Point. Then we saw that the Beartooth Highway had just opened, so, giddy-up. Charles Kuralt once called the Beartooth Highway “…the most beautiful roadway in America.” This new route would also vastly shorten the distance for the day and increase our transit enjoyment.
The route from Red Lodge, MT to Artist Point, Yellowstone NP
While I don’t totally agree with Mr. Kuralt’s assessment, I don’t disagree. This is truly a splendid road. It was our 2nd time, having previously traversed it back in the fall of 2023. This time, since it had just opened, there was a lot of snow, giving the whole route a different kind of feel. The road was packed – but there were no traffic jams. There are lots of turnouts.
The Beartooth Highway. It’s only 68 miles. The high point is reached at the pink dot. Technically, from Red Lodge to the NE Entrance of Yellowstone National Park.
The quaint little town of Red Lodge is the Eastern portal and the start of the Beartooth Highway. Lot of shops and restaurants.
First up is securing a large selection of saltwater taffy at the Montana Candy Emporium. Best I’ve ever had.
Lots of bins and lots of memorabilia in there, too.
It all starts just a few miles out of town. Time to get after it.
The switchbacks start immediately and the first turn out is really nice.
The road ascends very quickly through the switchbacks – you will gain 5,000 feet in only 12 miles.
A red C8 scoots by
More switchbacks
I dunno……….seems likes there’s some rockfall potential
The view expands as you climb higher
Where we’re headed
There’s a fabulous view and a large parking lot at the Rock Creek Vista Point – Elev. 9.190 feet
What a view
A trail goes out to an observation point, where hundreds of scavengers are waiting.
The patient and good natured wifey/passenger
Carbon Black Metallic M850, from 2023 trip. What a car that was.
There’s still nearly 1,800 vertical feet to the summit, so let’s get going
Looking down on the Rock Creek Vista Point
What a glorious road
A lull in the traffic.
We reach a high plateau. The trees are gone. The view is stupendous.
The view down below opens up to several lakes, trying to throw off the cold frozen yoke of winter.
Still climbing to an even higher plateau
We pass the Beartooth Summer Ski Basin. The smallish lot is crammed with cars. Nine runs, 2 poma chairs and one headwall of undetermined height.
Then on to one last plateau where skiers are schussing down couloirs and being snowmobiled back to the top.
A couple more S-turns through the snow
Then – Boom………..summit time – 10,947 feet. Not a tree in sight.
The landscape changes dramatically as we wind down the west side of the pass. The trees quickly come back and the whole area is dotted with lakes trying to scrape off their winter ice coverings.
The road flattens out and we reach Long Lake for some nice shots
Did I mention that San Remo Green Metallic is a fabulous color?
Soon, the forest returns. Waterfalls dot the sides of the hills.
Yellowstone Overlook brings Pilot Peak and Index Peak into view. Pilot Peak (the pointy one) rises to 11,699 feet and Index Peak, to the right, comes in at 10,709 feet.
Lake Creek Falls is a rushing torrent
Another view of Pilot Peak
A little further is Crazy Creek Falls. There doesn’t particularly seem to be a dedicated stream bed. It just comes tumbling down the mountain.
Everything is sooooo green.
We continue winding our way down through the lush landscape. Eventually we reach Cooke City – the first major signs of civilization in awhile. It’s a bit of a threadbare town in need of some sprucing up, but it’s jammed with people looking for gas, snacks, lunches and souvenirs. They probably only have 4 months to make all their annual income, because the pass to Red Lodge is closed most of the year.
A few miles on gets us through the NE Entrance to Yellowstone. The wait time was zero cars and one compliment on the San Remo.
This is where the buffalo roam (see the tiny specks off to the right?). It’s also not very geysery in this part of the park.
At Tower Junction we turn left and the road ascends into the verdant landscape as we head toward Canyon Village and the waterfalls. The traffic increases tenfold. It’s busy here.
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is one of the busiest spots in the park. The Yellowstone River has cut a deep canyon here and added two spectacular waterfalls. It doesn’t look totally crazy here, people-wise, so we take the north rim road and are not disappointed by the views at Lookout Point of the Lower Falls – just over 300 feet high.
The canyon is 24 miles long, with walls of 800 to 1,200 feet deep.
A nice hike descends down 600 feet to the Brink of the Lower Falls – it’s quite spectacular. You can just see the viewpoint with the people, on the right side, at the top of the falls – if you look close enough.
The road loops us back out to Canyon Village and we check out the lodge.
We head over to the other side of the river and reach Artist Point. Its a little further away from the falls, but there is more of a view of the canyon. The yellows, oranges and reds are quite vivid. Really something.
Then its back over to the north side again for a quick hike to the Brink of the Upper Falls. The river is really hauling ass through here.
It took 7 hours to go the last 120 miles – or you could have gone 500 miles on I-90 through Montana. I’ll take this any day of the week.
Our Yellowstone surgical strike now completed, we head west out of Canyon Village on the Norris Canyon Road to meet up with Hwy 89 that will take us north to Mammoth Hot Springs. We explored the Springs a couple years ago and we head for the final target: The North Entrance to Yellowstone National Park – the only entrance we’d never been through. It lies in the city of Gardiner, MT – just 5 miles away down a very steep descent.
The significance of the North Entrance is that the trains dropped tourists off here and then they rode horse drawn carriages into the park. It was the first major entrance to Yellowstone. A stone arch was proposed to create an emphatic statement that the park is kind of a big deal. President Roosevelt came through in 1903, just as construction began. He helped lay the cornerstone for the arch, which then took his name.
The top of the arch is inscribed with a quote from the Organic Act of 1872, the legislation that created Yellowstone National Park – the first national park in the US – and the world.
Although it’s not the main access point of the entrance anymore, you can still drive through it.
We put Yellowstone into our rearview mirror once again and head north toward Belgrade, MT – night 33 – with 10,073 miles on the trip odmeter……so far.
Even though we have left a national park, Montana doesn’t shy away from being awesome – as the wife shows by snapping a picture out her window. Only 819 miles to go – we’ll be back home in just 2 more days.
Hope you enjoyed our little 120 mile detour. Thanks for tagging along.
Last edited by snowbimmer; 08-01-2025 at 08:18 AM..