Help with traveling the Beartooth Highway

[rvfiddleddd]

Hi everyone. This is my first post! We've had a travel trailer for awhile, but since I'll be retiring soon we plan to upgrade to a Fifth Wheel. But for this summer's trip we'll still have our 30 ft. TT. We're wondering about the wisdom of pulling it across the Beartooth Highway. My husband would rather not tow it on that road, but we can't figure out the logistics of how we would get from Cody to Yellowstone National Park if we don't. We'd like to go out through the Badlands, etc., and on in to Cody. From there we're stuck. We want to spend several days in (hopefully INSIDE) YNP, but we also want to drive the Beartooth. Is it realistic to leave Cody early in the a.m., then drive the Beartooth and return to Cody that evening? How long would it take to do that? We're photographers so we stop quite a lot to take pictures.

The other option is for us to visit Yellowstone NP first, then take a day trip up the Beartooth from there. I wonder which way would be best from a lighting/photography standpoint......driving from East to West or from West to East? I'm thinking if we start on the East we wouldn't have the sun in our eyes at least.

At any rate, if you can shed some light on this for us, we'd greatly appreciate it. We plan to start utilizing this site a lot now that we'll be doing some serious traveling in the RV.

[rvfiddleddd]

Thanks, everyone! We're all set! We called the Ponderosa Campground, and they initially said there were no vacancies. But that was because they didn't want to break up the days around July 4th. So we extended our stay there by a couple of days, which allowed us to reserve there. Thanks for all of your advice. It really helped! All of the other places you've recommended will be put in my file for future reference. This summer while we're there, we'll look at the locations of the other campgrounds to consider for future trips. Now that I'm retiring we'll be making many trips out that way as we go to visit our daughter in Alberta, CA.

[CloudDriver]

We stayed at the Red Lodge KOA the night before driving the Beartooth to Yellowstone back in Sept. 2007.

If you decide to base in Red Lodge and drive part way into Yellowstone, try to go as far as the Lamar Valley. IMO the wildest portion of the Park. Large herd of Bison in the valley each time we have been there. We have also seen Wolves and Bears on infrequent occasions there. A few miles into the park from the Northeast entrance is Barronette peak. If you have binoculars, stop and look for Mountain Goats up on the cliffs.

Your entrance fee for Yellowstone is good for 7 days and includes entrance to Grand Teton as well. If you have a Golden Age Pass (age 62 or older) Entrance is free (best deal we ever got from Uncle Sam).

[2gypsies1]

sdianel wrote:
We stayed at Yellowstone Valley Inn between Cody and YNP entrance. Not a fancy park but convenient. Also check on Buffalo Bill State Park North Shore Bay Campground. They do have a few water electric (no sewer) sites but you need reservations for those.

This is a nice park for Cody. It's in a scenic area away from the hubbub of Cody but still a close drive. Be sure to do the Cody Museum. It's not like any other museum you've been. It's top class.

From this area (Cody) you'd be taking the east entrance into Yellowstone. Easy.

For the Beartooth Highway, make it a day trip from the Cody area.

[rvfiddleddd]

And to CloudDriver.....thanks so much for the pictures. They're lovely. Some kind of scenery, eh?

[rvfiddleddd]

Thank you all so much for such great suggestions. I'll check out the recommended campgrounds. I already called the KOA and they're booked for the time we plan to be there.....over July 4th. We may have trouble finding a place since it's the holiday. So if we have to go elsewhere, what do think of the idea of staying in Red Lodge for a couple of nights? It would save us the drive from Cody to Red Lodge when we want to drive the Beartooth, and since we'd be a bit closer to Yellowstone NP it may even allow us time to go inside the park a bit and explore that part of the park, which we've never been to. From the map it looks like there are pretty good roads for pulling an RV between Cody and Red Lodge.

I'll try to call some more Cody campgrounds this weekend. Pending what I find we may have to look elsewhere for campgrounds. So please let me know if there are any campgrounds north of Cody or up around Red Lodge that you like or would recommend.

Thanks so much. I LOVE this site!

[sdianel_-acct_c]

We stayed at Yellowstone Valley Inn between Cody and YNP entrance. Not a fancy park but convenient. Also check on Buffalo Bill State Park North Shore Bay Campground. They do have a few water electric (no sewer) sites but you need reservations for those.

[CloudDriver]

We have used the Ponderosa Campground in Cody. It is a Good Sam park and is only about 3 blocks from the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. Last time we were there they didn't take credit cards, just cash & checks. We have also used the KOA, which is just east of the Cody Airport. The Absoroka is a mile or so closer to town, also on the east side. There is also Buffalo Bill State Park on the Buffalo Bill Reservoir a few miles west of town. The dam tour is interesting.

The entrance fee for the Buffalo Bill Historical Center is good for two days. Few people can do the whole thing in one day.

[Jim_Shoe]

Cody is a must see. IMO, you'll want to plan a couple of nights there. You can easily spend a full day in the Buffalo Bill Museum. Its really 5 museums under one roof. I stayed those nights at Absaroka Bay RV park on the way home eastbound. For some reason "Absaroka" is pronounced "Absorka". The park owners don't know why either. There's a gunfight every evening at Buffalo Bill's boarding house (saloon). Even had a Buffalo burger at one of the restaurants in town. Very tender. Also a Rodeo at night in the summer.
The whole town is kind of like an amusement park for adults.

[rvfiddleddd]

Wow! Just checking back, and there are so many responses already. My husband and I will take a look at the map in considering your suggestions, and I'll get back to you. I have to figure out how the Chief Joseph Highway fits in to the equation. 🙂

And if we decide to stay in Cody for a few days, which is likely, do you have any places you can recommend for camping? We have a Senior National Park pass, and we're Good Sam members. We were in Cody once a long time ago, but we arrived late in the day and couldn't see the Buffalo Bill Museum, which we'd like to do this time. Would love any recommendations for places to stay.

[paulj]

In case it isn't obvious from the other posts, if you enter YNP from Cody via the NE entrance, you don't cross the high part of the Beartooth Hwy. Not unless you make the loop north to Red Lodge.

There still are switchbacks (or in my thinking 180deg loops) on Chief Joseph. But once the 2 highways meet, you head west of Cooke City and the park.

But if you are happy with camping in Cody for a couple of days, the day loop north makes a lot of sense. Then you can enter the park via the east entrance. Still a climb, but nothing worse than the Big Horn Mtns.

[Bumpyroad]

CloudDriver wrote:
Both roads are spectacular drives but IMO not a good idea to tow a 30 ft TT over either one.

yep, why punish yourself. I drove across I-80 and dropped down to yellowstone from the North. Is there some reason he has to go to Cody?
bumpy

[cbwallace]

This past summer while staying at Fishing Bridge, we took a day trip to drive the Bear Tooth Highway. We left Fishing Bridge in the morning and headed to Cody before going north to Red Lodge and then took the BTH back into Yellowstone via the NE entrance and back down to Fishing Bridge. It was a long day but worth the trip! I pulled my TT across the Big Horns on Highway 14 with no issue and I don't think Bear Tooth would have been much more difficult.

[CloudDriver]

To further clarify the loop drive others have suggested, from Cody go north on route 120 (route 72 in MT) to Belfry then west on route 308 to Red Lodge. Route 212 south from Red Lodge is the Beartooth Highway which tops out at about 11,000 feet then descends to join route 296, which is the Chief Joseph Highway. The Chief Joseph tops out at Dead Indian Pass at about 8,000 feet then joins with route 120 north of Cody, making the round trip. We have done this entire route except for the route 308 section.

In our Class C we have done the Beartooth from Red Lodge to the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone and the Chief Joseph in both directions from/to the Northeast Entrance. Both roads are spectacular drives but IMO not a good idea to tow a 30 ft TT over either one.

Some pictures of the climb from Red Lodge on the Beartooth:







The Bear's Tooth


On the Chief Joseph, the descent from Dead Indian Pass heading toward Yellowstone:

[trailertraveler]

We also have driven the loop of the Chief Joseph and the Beartooth a number of times. It is about a 176 mile loop. Red Lodge makes a good stop for a break and something to eat if you are so inclined. Going to Cooke City adds a little less than 30 miles to the trip.