Looking for info on Beartooth Highway in Montana

[Gray Ghost]

I heard about Beartooth Highway in Montana, sounds like a neat ride, but some of the reviews have made me a bit cautious. If anyone can give me some guidance based upon personal experience, I would appreciate it. We will riding a RT pulling a trailer with all our camping gear. Have you either pulled a trailer in the area, know someone who has, etc and would you recommend for or against doing that with our configuration.

 

[frenchek]

bear tooth

by all means try to ride the mountain, it is fantastic ! two years ago the wife and I rode all through that area and it is awesome. I don't think pulling a trailer thru there will be any problem, I was riding an ultra-glide, loaded, and I'm no spring chicken. there is a restaurant about 2/3 down on the Wyoming side, we stopped to grab lunch and ran in to willie nelson, interesting character. be prepared for any kind of weather, we left the bottom by Yellowstone {78 degrees} when we hit the top there was snow on the ground {not the road}. take the ride you will love it--that part of the country is beautiful--I'm jealous, love to do it again.

 

[Larry rt]

Camped in Montana last year , went to yellowstone and stayed a week by glacier national park. Great riding , there is some open ranges in the area , watch out for cattle! I towed a pop up camper with my RT , no problems . You will love it !!!! Drive safe and keep tank full !

 

[Gray Ghost]

Thanks guys. It is going on the route map.

 

[Gordy]

great ride rode over the pass 2 years ago really a nice ride pulled my camper behind spyder no problems at all.Just make sure you dress warm it gets cold up there.We rode over in july and lakes were still frozen over

 

[lwrydr]

Beartooth Pass

I have been over it 2 times.....most of the road is real good...you should not have any problems...if you come over from the Yellowstone side think about taking the Chief Joseph Hwy and go down to Cody and check that town out.....great food at the Irma Hotel.....have fun....

 

[gypsy_100]

Just Do It

Great road, don't worry about it. Some of it is always under construction due to the winter abuse but that's where three-wheels is better than two. There are phone numbers on the web to take along where you can get the latest construction and road condition info, as well as at the ranger station. But don't sweat it -- with all the two-wheelers making it thru, the Spyder is no problem at all.

Here's some food for thought. A great ride. Red Lodge is at the northeast end of the Bear Tooth Highway US 212. Good town to stay in if you need it. Ride US 212 Beartooth Highway to Cooke City at the other end. Plenty of places to eat there. You can continue on into Yellowstone or turn around and backtrack a little ways and turn right onto the Chief Joseph Highway WY 296 over to WY 120 north of Cody. Chief Joseph is fantastic and not as well known (i.e. heavily traveled) as the Beartooth. I've done it three times and can't get enough of it. When you hit WY 120, you can turn right and go into Cody for the ultimate "tourist" experience or turn left and go up to Montana (WY 120 becomes MT 72). Hang a left onto MT 308 and loop back into Red Lodge. A nice full-day ride and gets you back to where you started. MT 308 is nice, too. All kinds of possibilities. Try to work the Chief Joseph in -- you won't regret it.

 

[flamingobabe]

If you come from Yellowstone...ride the pass....will be wonderful.....spend the night in cooke city....fun town

 

[MidTNDawg]

Great ride!

But take your time so you can look. I usually stay in Cooke City as well. It does get cold at the top and be prepared for snow, sleet, hail as I have made quite a few runs over Beartooth. Good food at several places in Cooke City, but Red Lodge is good also. Don't miss hwy 16A in Wyoming if possible. Use the Northeast gate for Yellowstone as in my opinion the East gate is rather blah. The East road in Yellowstone is the better ride as the West road does not provide the "feel" of the park. Again obviously my opinion. And re-stating these opinions come from having ridden there a number of times. I rarely recall a highway number, but I remember 16A. Hwy 16 will get you where you are going but without a lot of fun.

 

[Gray Ghost]

Thanks for the info on 16A, I was set to hit a portion, your comment caused me to check it a little closer.

 

[Larry rt]

Of you go to yellowstone , be carefully in the bison range. We got stuck there for about half an hour ! Bison were feeding on both sides of the road and decided to cross , they walked about three feet in front of me! Had to check my pants when we got to campsite ! They are huge!

 

[rev.rr]

I live in Sw wyoming and cant get enough of that wyo montana area your going through, and you have the right bike to go through it.
If you go to yellowstone which can try your patience some times especially on 2 wheel bike because if a bear or moose is seen everybody stops and all the camera's come out can hold traffic up for a while. But it worth it! Have a good ride!

 

[murphybrown]

A must ryde IMHO

Have done several times. Don't miss the museum at Cody..not going to repeat what others have said...just saying "DO IT...wonderful ryding and picture taking area :thumbup:

 

[cognaccruiser]

Try to go to the museum in Cody too

Did all those roads a few years ago. You would not have a problem doing Bear Tooth as others have stated. Yellowstone is great too but if you make it to Cody, you owe it to yourself to go to the Museum in Cody. It is actually 4 museums in one and you can literally spend a day in there with out even noticing the time. The Firearms section has thousands of guns from the earliest rifles ever made to modern day pieces. The entire area is fantastic. Bear Tooth is very weather dependant so just time it well.
Gary

 

[ARCTIC]

Lots of good info here:thumbup:

 

[Gray Ghost]

If this keeps up we will have a tough time getting through the Northeast before winter shuts them down. The museum in Cody sounds nice, to keep from backtracking I'm looking at cutting east on 296 to Cody then heading back to Yellowstone. Of course I am planning to do the NRA museum over in Virginia as well.

 

[IdahoMtnSpyder]

I heard about Beartooth Highway in Montana, sounds like a neat ride, but some of the reviews have made me a bit cautious. If anyone can give me some guidance based upon personal experience, I would appreciate it. We will riding a RT pulling a trailer with all our camping gear. Have you either pulled a trailer in the area, know someone who has, etc and would you recommend for or against doing that with our configuration.

If you're planning to go westward from there consider going through Butte, MT and visit the World Museum of Mining.

 

[Dragonrider]

We rented a cabin in Yellowstone and stayed for 4 days. Each day, we took a different loop, riding on every road in the park. On the last day, we left the park and went to Cody, over the CJSB, and into Cooke City (it really is neat) - then back to the cabin. I can't think of a better way to see the park and the Byway. By all means, do not miss it.

 

[Gray Ghost]

The problem with doing the whole 48 in one trip is that we have to prioritize what we do in order to get around. Yellowstone was already on the list, but the main points we want to hit there are Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, and (now) the museum in Cody. The attached shows a map of our proposed route, there have been some mods that do not show yet.