Beartooth Highway

RED LODGE, MT, 59068 US / MT

Location Description

One of the most dramatic and breathtaking routes into Yellowstone is via the Beartooth Highway, US 212. However, do not attempt this passage if time is a factor; the drive takes 2-3 hours. Stretching from Red Lodge to Cooke City, the Beartooth Highway winds 65 miles through mountainous terrain to connect the two small Montana towns that are only 35 miles apart. Built in the 1936, the Beartooth Highway is still an engineering astonishment. It traces a series of steep zigzags and switchbacks, along the Montana-Wyoming border to the 10,974 foot (3,345 m.) high Beartooth Pass. The approximate elevation rise is from 5,200 to 8,000 feet in 12 miles (1,600 to 2,400 m in 20 km) in the most daring landscapes. When driving from the east to the west, the highest parts of the Beartooth Highway level off into a wide plateau near the top of the pass, and then descend to where the Beartooth Highway connects to the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway near Cooke City, which forms the northeast gateway to Yellowstone National Park. The Beartooth Highway is an All-American Road that has been called "the most beautiful drive in America," by late CBS correspondent Charles Kuralt.

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