Beartooth Highway

The Beartooth Highway is the section of U.S. Route 212 between Red Lodge and Cooke City, Montana. It traces a series of steep zigzags and switchbacks, along the Montana–Wyoming border (45th parallel) to the 10,947-foot-high (3,337 m) Beartooth Pass in Wyoming. The approximate elevation rise is from 5,200 ft (1,580 m) to 10,947 ft (3,337 m) in twelve miles (19 km) in the most daring & picturesque landscapes.

When driving east to west, the highest parts of the Beartooth Highway level off into a wide plateau near the top of the pass, then descend to the junction with Wyoming Highway 296 (Chief Joseph Scenic Byway), then further west Cooke City (MT), then further west the northeast entrance into Yellowstone National Park. On the way one passes numerous lakes typical of the Absaroka–Beartooth Wilderness which borders the highway along much of its route.

The highway officially opened June 14, 1936.^[5]

At this elevation and latitude, snowstorms can occur even in the middle of the summer, and the pass is also known for strong winds and severe thunderstorms. Drivers should plan on a driving time of at least two hours for the 69-mile (111 km) trip from Red Lodge to Cooke City, and it is advised to check with the Red Lodge Chamber of Commerce or the Beartooth Ranger District beforehand in case of road closures.^[4] Montana Traveler Information^[6] and Wyoming Travel Information Service^[7] both provide online information on Beartooth Highway travel conditions for their respective portions of the highway. Altitude sickness is also a risk for susceptible individuals going to this altitude with such a rapid increase in elevation.

The Beartooth Highway passes through portions of Custer, Shoshone, and Gallatin national forests, and near the Absaroka–Beartooth Wilderness.

Despite this, and the U.S. highway number (212), and also connecting to state highway 296 (Chief Joseph Scenic Byway in WY), it is not maintained by the Wyoming Department of Transportation or even the U.S. Forest Service, with WYDOT stating it does not meet standards for Wyoming state highways. It is instead maintained by the National Park Service, despite not being part of the park (like the Foothills Parkway or Skyline Drive) or being its own unit (like the Blue Ridge Parkway and Natchez Trace Parkway). The Montana Department of Transportation does maintain its portions in Custer and Gallatin national forests at the east and west ends of the highway, respectively.

Neither MDT nor NPS perform snow removal except for once in the spring, typically in May, but sometimes not until June if there has been heavy snowfall. Once the road opens, Beartooth Basin Ski Area opens near the state line at Beartooth Pass, for a short summer-only season that lasts until July. The entire Beartooth Pass, as a general rule, opens to the public on Memorial Day Weekend, and closes around Columbus Day (mid-October). The actual date of closure each year is weather-dependent, and can be as early as September depending on conditions.

In August 1872, the pass was crossed by Civil War General Philip Sheridan and 120 men returning from an inspection tour of Yellowstone National Park. Rather than take the long detour down the Clarks Fork Yellowstone River to return to Billings, Sheridan took the advice of an old hunter named Shuki Greer, who claimed intimate knowledge of the Beartooth Mountains. When the road was opened in 1936, it essentially followed Sheridan's route over the pass.