Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and Easy Day Hikes in the Beartooths, both published
by Falcon Press and written by Bill Schneider, are also useful resources.
Sleeping
There are 13 basic USFS campgrounds along the Beartooth Hwy between Red Lodge and
Cooke City. Island Lake (20 sites, $10) and Beartooth Lake (21 sites, $15) - both open
July to mid-September - are up on the high plateau, the latter has a boat launch. Further
west are Crazy Creek (16 sites, $10) and Fox Creek (34 sites, $20 with electricity) , the
former with a small cascade nearby. These sites come under the Clarks Fork Ranger dis-
trict ( 307-527-6921) of the Shoshone National Forest.
Closer to Cooke City, Chief Joseph (6 sites, $8) , Colter (18 sites, $9) and Soda Butte
(27 sites, $9) campgrounds are 4 miles, 2 miles and 1.5 miles east of town, respectively.
All are open mid-July to September. Only hard-sided vehicles are accepted following a
fatal grizzly attack at Soda Butte in July 2010 that killed one camper and injured several
others. Contact the Gallatin National Forest Gardiner District Office (
406-848-7375; www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin ) for details.
Skyline Guest Ranch $
( 406-838-2380; www.flyfishyellowstone.com ; 31 Kersey Lake Rd; d incl breakfast
$88-110; ) The remote Skyline is perfect if you want to get away from it all, experi-
ence some Western hospitality and saddle up for some family horse riding. Rooms in a
three-story lodge are spacious and modern, with nice outside balconies, and the location -
3 miles outside of Cooke City - is officially the middle of nowhere. The only way to reach
here in winter is by snowmobile.
LODGE
Chief Joseph Scenic Highway
The wild and scenic Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River runs along much of the Chief
Joseph Scenic Hwy (Hwy 296), linking Cody (via Hwy 120 north) with the Beartooth
Hwy and Yellowstone National Park's Northeast Entrance, 62 miles away. It's an astound-
ingly scenic and largely undiscovered corner of the Yellowstone region that links with the
Beartooth Hwy to offer several potential loop itineraries. The highway is named for Chief
Joseph of the Nez Percé tribe who eluded the US army and escaped through Clarks Fork
here in 1877.
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