Climbing Up: As you leave Red Lodge, Mont., the road starts in a valley in which you start climbing up and up shortly after leaving town. The elevation at Red Lodge is about 6,400 ft. and the road tops at Beartooth Pass, which is 10,947 ft. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Plateau: After a few miles of switch backs, the highway reaches a plateau which offers incredible views of the many peaks and pristine landscapes of the Beartooth Mountains. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
The Beartooth Highway is a stretch of US Highway 212 that traverses from Red Lodge, Mont. on the east end to the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone National Park on the west end, a total of 68 miles.
This highway is always a top recognized drive in the US and was one of the first highways to be proclaimed a National Scenic Byways All American Road. Due to the high elevation of the highway, it usually opens Memorial Day weekend and closes in October, depending on weather and snow conditions.
We traveled the highway during the last week of June and had clear roads and sunny skies on our trip but just days earlier it was closed briefly due to a late snowstorm. e, some still partially frozen even though it’s almost July.
Wall of Snow: As drivers gain elevation, many areas of the road still have several feet of snow on the north facing slopes. However, road conditions were ideal the day that we drove the road. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Beyond the Pass: Continuing westward beyond Beartooth Pass drivers descend to a plateau, which again offers beautiful views of the area and more mountain lakes along the roadway. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Almost to Yellowstone: While still mountainous, the highway has far fewer curves and switch backs as it gets closer to Yellowstone. Shown is a stretch of highway near Cooke City, Mont. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
After driving the Beartooth Highway, it is easy to see why many call this the most beautiful drive in America. It is recommended that one allow at least three hours to complete the drive unless you are continually stopping for photos and then 4-5 hours is more reasonable! It is also best to travel east to west beginning in the morning and west to east if driving during the afternoon so that the sun is to the drivers back during the drive.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country and he shares his photographs, which appear in the ‘Posts from the Road’ series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.