evelyntrav

We will be visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton in August and already have reservations within these parks. After visiting Grand Teton and before going to Yellowstone, we would like to drive the Beartooth Parkway to Red Lodge and then drive to Cody and return to Mammoth Springs. How long would it take from Signal Mt Lodge to Red Lodge? We would sleep in Red Lodge. Next day, how long would it take from Red Lodge, through Cody, to Mammoth Springs? I'm beginning to thing we should forget this 2 day side trip and just stay in Yellowstone. What are your thoughts?

cd

I am sooo confused. If you are in the Tetons, you are VERY close to Yellowstone and FAR away from Beartooth. You would want to do The Grand Tetons and then Yellowstone.

jaye

evelyntrav,
Oh, please don't plan to drop this from your plans. July 2003 we did the following: We started at Grand Teton and spent one night there. Then we spent two nights at Lake Yellowstone cabins. We went from there out the Northeast entrance, through Cooke City and onto the Beartooth. We spent the night in Red Lodge, then basically returned the same way, but I have heard that the drive through Cody and then the Chief Joseph Hwy is very good.

This is certainly doable if you get an early start out of Grand Teton. The Beartooth is one of the prettiest drives I've ever taken and Red Lodge had some nice restaurants and shops. If you decide to go ahead and do this, write again and I'll give you a few highlights that stuck out for us.

wondering

if you like driving, the beartooth is definitely worthwhile.

autowith

Hi Evelyntrav,

Look at a map of Yellowstone and Grand Tetons and you will see that to drive from the Grand Tetons to the Beartooth Hwy. you have to drive right through Yellowstone.

Go from the Grand Tetons to Yellowstone and then do the Beartooth Hwy.

The entrance to the Beartooth Hwy. is at the northeast gate of Yellowstone. It's not a difficult drive and very lovely.

The drive from Signal Mt Lodge to Red Lodge is about 198 miles and would take about 4 1/2 hours.

The drive from Red Lodge to Cody is 62 miles and takes about 2 hours. The drive from Cody to Mammoth Springs is approximately 127 miles and takes 2 - 3 hours.

I drove all of this in May. We started in Jackson, WY, just south of the Grand Tetons park and drove from the Grand Tetons into Yellowstone ( about 115 miles ). After staying in Yellowstone for a few days at the Old Faithful Inn ( highly recommended ) we drove north to Mammoth Springs and then went to the northeast gate and drove the Beartooth Hwy.

We lucked up and were able to drive the Beartooth Hwy. on the first day it opened in 2003 ( May 23, 2003 ) and it was spectacular. Snow everywhere!

You are going to one of the most beautiful areas on Earth. Take your time and plan a nice itinerary as you want to see all the special beauty this area of the US has to offer.

You will definitely have time to drive from Yellowstone across the Beartooth and back in 2 days without sacrificing too much, assuming you have several days to see Yellowstone.

Enjoy your trip.....

evelyntrav

It certainly would have been better if we could have changed the order and gone from the Tetons to Yellowstone and then done the Bear Tooth Hwy, but the availability in Yellowstone limited our choices and we had to change the order and go from Tetons to Bear Tooth to Yellowstone.

Old Faithful Lodge and Snow Lake Lodge are booked solid in August, but I will keep checking to see if anything opens and will reroute our plan.

We like driving and since it stays light in August until 9:00, I think the two days could be done given the driving times "autowith" mentioned. I knew the mileage and time mapquest suggested, but needed to double check.

Thanks a bunch for your help.

jacobla

This is more of a question than helpful information but we are going through the Tetons, staying in Yellowstone 3 days and going on to Glacier. I keep hearing that the Beartooth Highway is so beautiful but to take it will be several hours longer to take it to Glacier rather than just going north out of Yellowstone. Since this will postpone our arrival I'm wondering if its worth it. I want to see Beartooth if it is but is it different than what we will see at Glacier or other places in these areas?

heyjude21919

It sounds like we are planning a similar itinerary. But doing from GT to YNP and on to Glacier. I also want to do Beartooth Hwy. If we exit YNP do Beartooth, would it be best toreturn to Yellowstone and then go north, or can we keep going on to Glacier after Beartooth. The maps are really hard to figure this all out. We are flying home from Messoula, so would it make sence to enter Glacier on the East and out the West? Help!!!

evelyntrav

We have switched around some arrangements to make this vacation more relaxed. For one, we cut out Glacier and will do it on another trip someday as we felt we would be rushed trying to do GNP, too. We are flying into Billings (rather than Salt Lake as originally planned). Because of the Dunraven Pass closure, I hope the following plan will work. Any comments would be welcome.
Day 1. Arrive in Billings and sleep in Red Lodge.
Day 2. Drive from Red Lodge to the Beartooth, then Chief Joseph, enter YNP at East Entrance, and then to Signal Mt Lodge in the Grand Teton.
Day 3, 4, 5: Grand Teton
Day 6, 7, 8, 9: YNP
Day 10: Drive to Billings (flight next AM)

Does anyone know how long the day 2 drive will take? How terrible is the traffic through Cody? We plan to leave early and do it leasurely and since it stays light rather late we think it will be really nice. If Dunraven had not been scheduled to be closed, we would have planned to enter YNP at the NE entrance.

ljacob

I can't answer your questions but we are thinking of moving our trip next year to Yellowstone and Glacier from the last two weeks in July to the 2 weeks after July 4. Does anyone know which would be less busy? Our first night coming in would be in Red Lodge.

dixon

I cannot give you a direct answer, but last September we drove from West Yellowstone to Cody by way of Lake Yellowstone and Old Faithful. We then continued along the Chief Joseph highway and returned to the park to look for wolves along the Lamar Valley. (NO luck)
We then drove over the Beartooth Pass to Red Lodge with a stop at a fire tower that is now a visitor center. Great views from there.d

We got to Red Lodge in plenty of time for dinner that evening.

I see no reason why you should change your plans. If you did not take the detour from the junction of the Chief Joseph highway and the route to Red Lodge, you would probably arrive in Red Lodge at least an hour sooner than we did.

We did not stop long on the pass because it was a little cold and windy.
But what you propose is doable.

As you drive out the east gate, turn off to the viewpoint over Lake Yellowstone.
I like the east entrance the best of the 5 because of the views of the lake.

Cody is busy, but it is not all that bad. You will need to watch carefully for the turn onto the highway that becomes the Chief Joseph.

ljacob

Thanks for the info. Is it possible (and safe) to drive a 31 foot RV pulling a car on the Beartooth?

utahtea

ijacob,

Hi fellow camper! We drove our 24' motorhome over the Beartooth Hwy but I don't remember if there were any restrictions.

You might try asking over on Open Road RV.net. I would try asking on the Destination board.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm