Beartooth Scenic Highway

Pat and I were able to visit all 5 main entrances of Yellowstone. (There is another few people are aware of or use as it is difficult to get to and does not connect to the rest of the park.) We wanted to see the Roosevelt Arch at the NW entrance. We stayed outside the West entrance in West Yellowstone, Montana. We entered from the East entrance, and we left for Grand Teton from the South entrance. That left just the NE entrance, probably the least used entrance. The Beartooth Highway leads from that entrance up over the Beartooth Mountains to Red Lodge, Montana. 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. Charles Kuralt proclaimed it the Most Beautiful Road in America, and we agree. It's mind boggling that this road, much of it actual tundra, was ever built! It snakes up and down through the mountains and the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. We drove to Red Lodge and had a yummy lunch on main street and reversed our direction and drove back to Yellowstone and our campsite. It was a very long day, made longer by a bison jam, but we are so glad we did it! (This was also the drive we saw the bears on....they were in Yellowstone before we got to Lamar Valley)Read more