Amphitheater Mountain loomed above our Grizzly Lodge in Silvergate, Montana

Montana Memories

We drove a scenic circle from Colorado into Montana and back. And discovered one of the top 10 drives in the US – Beartooth Highway, US Highway 212 from Red Lodge, Montana into Cooke City, Montana

Driving from Colorado up to Montana, we stayed in:
West Yellowstone, Montana – Three Bear Lodge
Big Sky, Montana – Bucks T4 Lodge
Red Lodge, Montana – Yodeler Motel
Cooke City, Montana – Grizzly Lodge

Favorite Food Stops:
Oxbow Restaurant – Lander, Wyoming – best smoked bacon
Buck’s T4 Lodge Restaurant – Big Sky, Montana – yummy Blue Cheese Burger
Granny’s – Cody, Wyoming – homemade potato chips – just thick enough to be potatoes and not a Lay’s style thin chip
Honey’s – Red Lodge, Montana – best asiago bagel and americano
Pine Log Cabin – Silvergate, Montana – delightful breakfast
Prospector Inn – Cooke City, Montana – tasty Rueben sandwich

Fabulous Drive – The Beartooth Highway, US 212, was a hairpin drive of 63 miles, but the scenery was priceless. The best route is Red Lodge down to Cooke City, stopping for views at Rock Creek Vista before you reach the 11,000 foot peak. From here, you actually look out over the glaciers below you. As you drive down the other side into Cooke City, stop at Crazy Creek Falls for a roaring waterfall right off the highway. Then the vista opens and you are blown away by the majestic mountain range splaying out below you.

Yellowstone National Park Secrets:

Driving up through Lander, Wyoming, we made a coffee stop in Jackson, Wyoming. The Grand Tetons are so scenic that you have to stop here to hike.

From here, drive into Yellowstone through the South Entrance. It is quiet from this entrance and the hordes of tourists are reduced. This also takes you right to Old Faithful. We headed west to the town of West Yellowstone for the night.

We drove from West Yellowstone up to Big Sky and saw hundreds of campers and vans entering the Park from this West Entrance. This would be a horrible entrance to try to reach the park. Thank goodness we were traveling north !

After Cooke City, we drove into the Park at the Northeast Entrance. Again, like the South Entrance, there were only a handful of vehicles in line to get in. This is another great entrance into this national park.

Rainbow Geyser at Yellowstone National Park is this brilliant!