The North Side

Today was a 12-hour adventure! We explored the north end of Yellowstone before taking the incredible Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge, Montana. That part of our day took about 8 hours. From there, it was a 4-hour drive back to camp, making one amazing loop.

First things first…breakfast at the Old Town Café before hitting the road. We had barely gotten started heading north from Norris before spotting deer and bison!

Our first stop…Roaring Mountain, where a bison was soaking up the morning sun while steam poured from the mountainside behind him.

Next…Sheepeater Cliff, followed by a quick stop at beautiful Rustic Falls. Such a pretty little waterfall right beside the road.

The Golden Gate area was really interesting. Back in the late 1800s, the original road crossed a wooden trestle attached to the side of the cliff. I can’t imagine traveling over that! The golden-colored cliffs were formed from volcanic ash, which is how the area got its name. We also passed the huge Golden Gate Boulder (not captured in my photos. 😞)

Then came the Hoodoos. At first, they look like the remains of a giant rockslide, but these rocks actually tumbled down long ago from ancient hot spring formations on what’s now called Terrace Mountain.

One of my favorite stops along the way was driving the Upper Terrace Drive at Mammoth Hot Springs. The white terraces, colorful pools, and steaming formations were incredible. Orange Mound was interesting.

And this was only the beginning of our day…Read more