We have reservations at Old Faithful Snow Lodge for Sept.11th & 12th. Would like help planning where to go and what to see for our 2 days there. My husband's a real history buff so we need to work our way towards Little Bighorn Battlefield so we can fly out of Billings on Thurs. 9/16. Thinking about visiting Cody...can we drive out the E. side of the park or is that road closed? Or, would it be better to exit the park and head to Red Lodge then down to Cody. Will the Beartooth Hwy still be open on 9/13 or 9/14? I've read how beautiful and scenic it is but is it a dangerous, hair-raising drive for flat-landers? How much time should we allow to visit the Battlefield? If we got there early Thurs. morning, would we have enough time to see the highlights and be back to Billings to catch a plane at 1:00? So many questions, but any and all opinions and advice is greatly appreciated.

Can't help with whether Beartooh is open those dates. If it IS, be sure to go that route. No, I didn't Beartooth roads "hair-raising". No worse than lots of other mountain roads in that part of the country. The thing with this route is you have to stop now & then, get out of the car, & "look back". The view is completely different from each direction.

Little Bighorn Battlefield - YES - can be "briefly" done in early morning. We did it in an evening.
Good stories/signs to read at each point of the drive-through, and a video to watch at the visitor centre, but that's about it. Still it makes an interesting place to visit & see where it actually happened. Be sure not to cut yourself short on being back at the airport in time :0

You'll want to visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody. You will easily spend a whole day in there.

Sylvan Pass (East Entrance Road) was closed by a mudslide last week. It should be open again long before your trip.

Beartooth Highway should still be open in September, but could close temporarily if there is early snow. As long as there isn't a storm, the Beartooth is not at all dangerous. There are lots of switchbacks, but the lanes are wide and there are plenty of pullouts/overlooks. I assume you're flying into and out of Billings? So you could do the Beartooth in and Cody out?

Note that Dunraven Pass is closed for construction this year, so to get from Old Faithful to the Beartooth Highway you should go via Mammoth Hot Springs.

As for Little Bighorn, I suppose it could be done, but that's a long way to drive if you can only spend 15 minutes at the site. Cody to Little Bighorn is about 3.5-4 hours, then it will take almost 2 hours to get to the airport at Billings.

Your husband might find the time better spent at the Buffalo Bill Hist. Center in Cody.

You do have a couple of days after leaving Yellowstone, right? You could spend one day in Cody, and then drive over to Sheridan. There are lots of historical sites in that area (Ft Kearney, Wagon Box Fight, Johnson County War, etc.) and you would be less than 1.5 hours away from Little Bighorn.

Thanks to both Syv and drsawyers for responding to my questions. I didn't know anything about all the historial sites around Sheridan--my husband's ecstatic at the prospect of more history! I know we'll be pushing it but would the following itiniary be doable? Fly into Jackson on 9/10 (plane tickets already purchased). 1st night Jackson, 2 nights Yellowstone, drive Beartooth to Red Lodge then on to Cody-or- leave by east entrance to get to Cody, visit Buffalo Bill Historical Ctr. and spend 4th night in Cody. Leave Cody early Tues. morning and drive to Sheridan, spend 5th night in Sheridan and work our way to Billings (1:20 pm Thursday flight to Denver for a wedding). All opinions are greatly appreciated.

Sounds doable to me, but you won't have much time to relax. Your husband may also feel pressed for time at the Buffalo Bill Museum.

I definitely wouldn't pass on the Beartooth Highway. In my opinion, it's far more impressive than either the Sylvan Pass Road (East Entrance) or the Chief Joseph Hwy.

I would suggest that your husband do some advance research on the Sheridan area historical sites. There is plenty to see, so you'll have to be selective. Also, some very important sites, like Fort Phil Kearney, have very little to see other than the ground where the events took place. If you're expecting an intact 19th century military post, you will be disappointed. Here is a website that might be useful: http://www.philkearny.vcn.com/

Most of the historical locations around Sheridan are accessed via gravel roads along the foothills of the Bighorn Mountains. Not necessarily bad roads, but you won't be able to cruise from one spot to the next at 70mph.

I also have some photos of the Bighorn Mountains at:
http://www2.onu.edu/~d-sawyers/Bigho...ite/index.html

You won't be spending much time here, but this might help you decide which route to take from Cody to Sheridan.

As the last poster said, you'll be pretty hurried with the sheridan detour but you'll be ok if you stay organized. Beartooth, if open, is gorgeous. Red Lodge is a nice little town as well but you'll probably be in a bit of a hurry to get to Cody. You asked about must see's in Yellowstone. It will take you a good chunk of the day to get from Jackson to the Snow Lodge assuming you stop and take in the views of the Tetons plus the vista's heading into Yellowstone. You could drive past the Madison jct on to to West Yellowstone for a few hours on the 12th for the Grizzly discovery center and museum of the Yellowstone for history on the park and area. Of course, you'll see the paintpot and geyser basin area and the upper/lowers falls are a must see. If you do drive via beartooth, you'll get a great view of the north/east ends of the park as well. Have a great time and check the weather frequently before you go.

Its been awhile since we've been and are planning a return trip. For the first night before we arrive in Yellowstone for our reservations there, where would you recommend we stay:

*Buffalo, Wy
*Cody, Wy
*Red Lodge, MT

Which town has a more of a *western* feel with a fun place to stay? And also eat (thinking Cowboy Club in Sedona - type place) or places to stroll in the evening.

We've done the Buffalo Bill museum and Rodeo so we don't plan to do the museum again although we could do the rodeo. Just want a fun first night in the area, and want to *feel* like we're in the *wild west* if possible.

Any and all ideas appreciated!

The Beartooth Hwy has construction on sections of it thru 2006. The web site http://www.nps.gov/yell/planvisit/or...l/roadclos.htm says delays up to 30 minutes are to be expected.
If your husband is into prehistoric history go to Pictograph Cave State Park 7 miles S of Billings. There are three caves filled with painted rock art. Follow a paved trail take about an hour.

Thanks to all who keep posting info. We'll just have to relax when when get to Beaver Creek. drsawyers, your website and the Ft. Phil Kearny are phenomenonal--a huge help in planning this trip. It looks like the drive from Cody to Sheridan via Greybull might be a little less intense for novice mtn. drivers from FL but we'll miss the Medicine Wheel (which I don't know anything about but sounds interesting). Going to try and see Ft. Phil Kearny, Wagon Box, Fetterman, Rosebud and Little Bighorn Battlefields in 1 1/2 days--may have to change plane reservations to give us an extra day. Does anybody know if we'll have to drive all the way to Billings to spend the night after visiting Little Bighorn Battlefield or are there accomodations closer? Many, many thanks again to all. Is this a great site, or what!

To Audra - Cody is probably the most "wild west" of the three. IMO, Buffalo is small and not much going on (but pretty - my aunt lives there). I prefer Red Lodge to the others for two reasons, 1 - it is the best entrance into the park via the beartooth (although may be delays as other posters indicate) and 2 - it is very pretty as you are closer to mountains with places to stay (Pollards hotel is cool) and restaurants (Bogarts for pizza/casual, Bridge Creek, etc.). I think Cody is about 1 hour plus away so you could still do something there. However, I'd call Red Lodge a "mountain/ski/hiking" type of town and Cody is of course, much more on the wild west side (although Red Lodge has rodeos as well at certain times) so it depends on your preferences.

Thank you for the information, Jo! We're leaning towards staying in Cody, seeing the rodeo again (Red Lodge's rodeo is only July 4 weekend) and we'd all like to see one again.

Then we'll leave Cody for Red Lodge in the morning to take Beartooth Highway into Yellowstone, does that make logistical sense? (We'll stay in Yellowstone for a few days.)

Ideas for fun, cowboy type places to eat in Cody? Any other ideas greatly appreciated!

Topping...anyone?

Audra, are you topping for Cody suggestions? If so, you may want to start a new post with a new subject/title.

I've never stayed in Cody but a friend and her family enjoyed staying in a B&B that was a converted church.

Hi Gracie, yes i was. Good idea, thanks!