Beartooth Highway
Beartooth Highway in mid June in a 34 foot motorhome (no toad.) Is it doable?
Forum Discussion
We drove the Beartooth Highway back in September 2007 in our 24 ft Class C. From Red Lodge it's a long climb of about 5,200 ft to the top at 10,947 ft then a lesser descent to Cooke City at the northeast entrance of Yellowstone. We took our time and stopped at a number of pull outs and had no difficulty. No opinion on doing this in a heavier RV.
Back in 2010 we took the Chief Joseph Highway beginning north of Cody to Cooke City. In our opinion the Chief Joseph is a more interesting scenic drive than the Beartooth. It also has less elevation gain of about 3,000 ft from Cody to the top of Dead Indian Pass at about 8,100 ft. The descent from the Pass is steep at about 7% with sharp curves and lower gears will be needed to save the brakes. Beyond that section it's a relatively easy drive the rest of the way to Cooke City. We much prefer driving the Chief Joseph over the Beartooth and used it in the opposite direction from Cooke City to Cody in both 2014 and 2016.
Back in 2010 we took the Chief Joseph Highway beginning north of Cody to Cooke City. In our opinion the Chief Joseph is a more interesting scenic drive than the Beartooth. It also has less elevation gain of about 3,000 ft from Cody to the top of Dead Indian Pass at about 8,100 ft. The descent from the Pass is steep at about 7% with sharp curves and lower gears will be needed to save the brakes. Beyond that section it's a relatively easy drive the rest of the way to Cooke City. We much prefer driving the Chief Joseph over the Beartooth and used it in the opposite direction from Cooke City to Cody in both 2014 and 2016.
