The Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone National Park and the western most 17 miles of the Beartooth Highway have opened for the travel season. Visitors may access the Cooke City/Silver Gate/Colter Pass area and Yellowstone by traveling Wyoming’s spectacular Chief Joseph Scenic Byway ( WY 296) to its intersection with the Beartooth Highway then traveling west … Continue Reading
Beartooth Highway Trip Planning
The Beartooth Highway is a 68 mile stretch of US Highway 212 that, from its western most terminus at the Northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park, runs east to Red Lodge, Montana. The Highway begins and ends in Montana, with a large portion also located within the northwest corner of the State of Wyoming. Because… Continue Reading
Beartooth Highway – 2015 Snowplowing Videos
Many of you have been calling and emailing to ask if there is a way to watch the springtime plowing on the Beartooth Highway. Here are some great links that will keep you in touch and fired up about your 2015 summer trip! Montana DOT Videos of the Beartooth Highway The Montana Department of Transportation… Continue Reading
Snow Warning Issed – 9/10 & 9/11, 2014
Yellowstone National Park Service has shared the following heavy snow warning for the Beartooth Highway and upper elevations including Beartooth Pass. Travelers need to check weather conditions with local area chambers of commerce before traveling the Beartooth Highway on these days, and should drive with extreme caution only if conditions allow. Road closures will be… Continue Reading
Clay Butte Lookout Tower Celebrates Designation
Cody, Wyo. (August 12, 2014) – The Shoshone National Forest and the Friends of Clay Butte will hold a free, public ceremony on Saturday, August 23th at 2:00pm. The ceremony will celebrate the lookout’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places. The ceremony will be held at the Clay Butte Lookout tower along Forest… Continue Reading
Beartooth Highway Receives Prestigious National Register Listing
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Yellowstone National Park P.O. Box 168 Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 20, 2014 14-040 Al Nash or Dan Hottle (307) 344-2015 YELL_Public_Affairs@nps.gov ——————————————————————————- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE ——————————————————————————- Beartooth Highway Receives Prestigious National Register Listing The Beartooth Highway, often considered one of… Continue Reading
Beartooth Highway Opens May 23, 2014
The entire Beartooth Highway including Beartooth Pass will open Friday, May 23, 2014. Traffic gates will open at 9:00 am at both ends of the Highway. Travelers will be able to drive the entire 68 miles of the Highway from Red Lodge to Cooke City, Montana. The Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (WY 296) is also… Continue Reading
Beartooth Highway Economic Impact Survey Results Released
Friends of the Beartooth All-American Road today released the final report for the Beartooth Highway Economic Impact Survey. The purpose of this study was to assess the economic impacts and visitor use of the Beartooth Highway. Until now, little was known about visitors to the Beartooth Highway Region. Data was collected from visitors during the… Continue Reading
Temporary Road Closure Announced 9/24/13
National Park Service | U.S. Department of the Interior Yellowstone National Park P.O. Box 168 Yellowstone National Park, WY 82190 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sept. 24, 2013@10:30 am 13-089 Al Nash or Dan Hottle (307) 344-2015 YELL_Public_Affairs@nps.gov —————————————————- YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK NEWS RELEASE —————————————————- In light of the incoming winter storm, the Montana Department of Transportation,… Continue Reading
When Visiting the Beartooth Highway this fall – Be Bear Aware
Available foods will bring bears to lower elevations this fall Unlike the last two years which produced abundant crops of whitebark pine seeds, this year few cones were produced by the high elevation trees. Due to the low yield whitebark pine crop, we are expecting an increase in human-bear encounters in the backcountry this fall… Continue Reading
Did You Know?
The Cooke City cemetery is located only a short distance from town, adjacent to the Gallatin National Forest Service Campground. Within the plot lie the remains of many who cherished the hope for the future of Cooke City, including one of its founders, Horn Miller. When lumber for coffins were needed, men of the community simply used parts of uninhabited buildings to construct the boxes.
The Clay Butte Lookout was built in 1942 by the Civilian Conservation Corps and was used as a fire lookout. It was staffed until the 1960s, when aircraft proved a better tool for fire detection. Today, because of its popular scenic vantage point and proximity to the Beartooth Highway, Clay Butte is used as a visitor information site. It was remodeled in 1962 and has been staffed since 1975 by volunteers. The focus of Clay Butte today is to give visitors a glimpse of how fire lookouts functioned 60 years ago. Sightseers driving the scenic byway stop to obtain information or take in the view, which includes wildlife, botanical areas, the effects of the Clover-Mist wildfire of 1988, and the geology of ancient seas that once covered the Beartooth Plateau.