"Montana, the Beartooth Highway" Montana by melissa_bel

Montana and Wyoming are states where the adjective scenic is an understatement! Rolling plains to the east before it comes crashing down in the centralwest portion into the Rocky Mountains. The part where the plains meets the mountains in Montana is where I used to live. Montana is BIG. Actually one of the biggest of the States and there are many beautiful drives around, some amongst the most picturesque in the country. It so happens that one of these drives, called by CBS correspondant,... the most beautiful drive in the US, is the Beartooth Scenic Highway. A 69 miles ride starting from the ski-resort town of Red Lodge slowly going up the mountains of the Beartooth Range, culminating at nearly 11.000 feet shortly after the Wyoming border before a short loop back to Montana and the old mining town of Cooke City and the entrance of what is probably the country's best known natural treasure: Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (read my Travel report).

The Beartooth is a subrange of the Absaroka range, itself part of the Rocky Moutains system. Granite Peak (12,799 ft or 3,901 m), Montana's highest moutain, is located in the Beartooth (and visible from my front yard).
After the closing of the mine of Red Lodge, proeminent town citizens started to think about a way to bring prosperity back to the area. Thanks to the lobbying of the local newspaper editor, the Carbon County News, Mr. Shelley and a physician, Mr. Siegfriedt, Congress approved the money to build an access road through the moutain to reach Yellowstone National Park. President Hoover signed the bill and construction started. Road 212 has been inaugurated in 1936, has been designated "All American Road" and is listed as National Scenic Byway.
It is not open year-long though. Weather permitting, it opens between Memorial and mid-October.

Due to the heaviest rainfall in years in Montana in May, part of the Beartooth Highway is closed because of damages caused by mudslides.

Please go to : http//www.redlodge.com for more details about the status of the road and alternatives to the Beartooth highway and Yellowstone's East Entrances.

• Pros:Beautiful landscapes, great people, great outdoors...
• Cons:The weather can change in a snap.