If you had plans to drive the Beartooth Highway 212 between Red Lodge and Yellowstone this summer....you might have to change your plans. They say it could take months to open the road.

"Twelve slides that followed heavy rains and snow heaped mounds of mud, rocks — and in some places, green trees — onto Highway 212, which snakes to the top of 10,947-foot Beartooth Pass and down, connecting Red Lodge with Cooke City and Yellowstone National Park."


http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2...jehfjcjaff.txt

Utahtea

Oh no, i'm soo disappointed! We were planning to drive it in july. Altho we've done eight cross country road trip to CA and back we've never done this drive! I'm super bummed!

But thanks so much for the heads-up utahtea.

Sorry to be the barier of bad news, but wanted to warn people. Who knows, maybe the will have it open by the time you go. I'd check just before leaving on your vacation.

Utahtea

Thanks for letting us know! We are also planning to make the drive in July. I'll keep my fingers crossed for now and keep an eye on the news. I appreciate your warning.

After reading the article, my estimate is that the highway will not be open fully for 2 years.

If the roadway was undercut, and the pavement left hanging over an open gully, the repairs will be incredibly expensive and very dangerous.

This is not just simple rock removal, but highway reconstruction.

I know the section of I40 between Knoxville and Asheville that was damaged by the aftermath of Hurrican Ivan is still being repaired.
And the working season is much longer.

If repair efforts were by some miracle able to start on June 1, I think 5 months of effort is all that is possible because of the weather and the terrain.

According to the Yellowstone Park website, there was road construction planned for highway 212 outside the park...don't know if that is good news or bad.

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planvisit/or...l/roadclos.htm

Utahtea

What is the alternate route?

laruieb_nyny,

The Beartooth Highway entrance is only one of 5 entrances into Yellowstone National Park, so which one you take will depending on where you are coming from and where in the park you want to go.

If you're coming in from Billings, Montana then you have two other close choices. Hwy 89 and enter at Gardiner and the northwest entrance of the park. Or you could take 310 down to Cody, WY and enter on Hwy 14 at the east entrance. According to the Yellowstone website there is road construction on Hwy 14 in the park and the road is only open from 8 A.M. to 8 P. M. and you can expect delays during the weekdays.

Yellowstone Road Construction, Delays and Closures:

http://www.nps.gov/yell/planvisit/or...l/roadclos.htm

Utahtea

Here's a picture of the slide:

http://www.helenair.com/

HEY!! C'mon up north. Going to the sun highway is open. Earliest in years. Temps in NW Montana to be 65 to 70 this weekend.
Early summer??

Thanks for the heads up Utahtea. This was a route for our trip but we're going to need a plan B.

The article mentioned using Chief Joseph Highway. Does anyone know if that means we can go out the NE entrance to CJH and then down to Cody?

This part is encouraging:

Gov. Brian Schweitzer flew over the site Sunday and vowed Monday to move quickly on repairs.
''Whatever requests need to be made, I'm going to make ASAP,'' Schweitzer said. ''We're not going to wait around. There are a whole lot of people that rely on having that highway open.''

Thanks for the info. As I type this, I am plotting our route from Yellowstone to OR and was wrestling with whether or not to add a day to the trip to detour via the Beartooth. Looks like a Higher Power has made that decision for me. (I was really torn over the decision.) It is a disappointment.

Take a look at the damage photos.

http://www.mdt.state.mt.us/travinfo/beartooth/

Utahtea

Utahtea,
THANK you so much for the information. We are leaving tomorrow morning, going from California to northern Minnesota, and were planning on taking hwy 212. Very nice to know ahead of time to plan a change in our route. many thanks.
minnie.

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