Beartooth Parkway
Beartooth Parkway

Beartooth Parkway, Montana

As part of our 2013 journey from Durham, NC to Jasper Alberta Canada and back to Durham, we decided to drive from Great Falls, MT to the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park via the Beartooth Parkway. The Beartooth Parkway is not the quickest way to get from Great Falls to Yellowstone, but it is the most beautiful and scenic.

The Beartooth Parkway starts in Red Lodge, MT ends 69 at the Cooke City entrance to Yellowstone National Park. In road takes you from 5,568 ft in Red Lodge over the highest highway pass in Wyoming at 10,947 ft and the highest highway pass in Montana at 10,350 ft. The parkway then descends to 7,500 ft in Cooke City, MT.

Plenty Coups Chief of the Crows

Statue of Plenty Coups Chief of the Crows
Plenty Coups Chief of the Crows

We stopped in Red Lodge, MT for a picnic lunch at a small city park where there was a statue of Plenty Coups Chief of the Crows. Plenty Coups was the last of the traditional Crow Chiefs. You can find more information about him at Chief Plenty Coups There is a plaque near the statue with some information about Plenty Coups.

On the Beartooth Parkway

After lunch we started our drive over the parkway. We made the trip on the Beartooth Parkway on September, 22, 2013. The weather in Red Lodge was cloudy and warm-short sleeve weather. By the time we got to the first stop for photos, the wind had picked up and the temperature had dropped. It was time to get our jackets out.

Beartooth Parkway outside Redlodge, MT
Outside Red Lodge

The beauty of the area is breathtaking. You need to be sure to look down into the valley as well as look up at the mountains. There is beauty everywhere.

It would seem that you could cover 69 miles in a couple of hours--and I suspect you could if you just wanted to get from Red Lodge to Cooke City. But we don't travel that way. (It took us weeks spread over a few years to cover the 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway.) We spent a little less 6 hours to cover the 69 miles between Red Lodge and Cooke City. We started to run out of light and had to miss several of the recommended stops. By the time we got the Cooke City it was almost dark and we still had a couple of hours drive to get to Lake Lodge in Yellowstone.

Next time we plan to spend the night in Red Lodge, MT and have a whole day to drive the parkway.

The peak that is called the Beartooth
The Beartooth
Beartooth Parkway
Beartooth Parkway
Beartooth Parkway
Beartooth Parkway
Beartooth Parkway
Beartooth Parkway
Near top of Beartooh Parkway
Near the top of the Beartooth Parkway
Lake Near top of Beartooh Parkway
Lake Near the top of the Beartooth Parkway
To Cooke City on Beartooh Parkway
To Cooke City on the Beartooth Parkway
Chipmunk
Chipmunk
Yellow Bush
Yellow
Cows
Open Range Cows

Cows on the highway are something that you need to get used to out west. Large sections of the non-interstate highways are open range which means that cows and other livestock can be encountered on most roads. Even if there are fenced pastures, cows often end up on the wrong side of the fence. Not to mention deer.