Looks like we're gonna be sitting in some traffic during our summer trip to Yellowstone b/c of road construction.

What exactly is Chief Joseph Hwy - I'm looking at a map - is it 296 or 72/120? Is the bottom part of the Beartooth very scenic (from Yellowstone to 296 or to Red Lodge), or would we be missing some of the most scenic parts?

I plan all our national park trips, and we've been to most of the parks out west, but for some reason this trip seems to be taking more hours of planning than all the others. I have all our lodging reservations, and that took a lot of time to decide where to stay.

Thanks for any insights.

I haven't done the Chief Joseph Hwy (296) yet, but the section of the Beartooth Hwy 212 between Hwy 296 Junction and Red Lodge is the VERY scenic. This is the section of the road where you actually cross the Beartooth Mountains with switch backs.

Maybe the American Byway website can help you.

http://www.byways.org/browse/byways/2168/travel.html

The

Utahtea

Ooops, posted to soon.

Here is the link to road construction in Yellowstone. Beware the road between the Canyon and Tower Jct is going to be closed again this year.

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

Utahtea

In mid-August, we are going to be traveling from Red Lodge to Grand Teton (Signal Mt Lodge) via the Beartooth and Chief Joseph Hwys. How long would you expect this trip to take without stopping for the sights? We certainly do expect to stop and enjoy the views, but I wondered how long it would take non-stop for planning purposes. This will be the first leg of our trip.

There is always road construction in Yellowstone. They only have a short time every year to repair the damage caused by the winter.

Chief Joseph (296) is VERY scenic. A good route is to go out the northeast entrance to the visitor center/lookout, retrace your steps to Chief Joseph to Cody and then back in the east entrance. Beartooth is worth a second look and looks different from two different directions.

From the lookout to Red Lodge isn't particularly scenic and while R L is a nice town, IMO, isn't worth the time when I would want to spend more time in Yellowstone.

We found Chief Joseph Hwy to be one of the most scenic Hwy's we have traveled with many interesting switchbacks. Have fun!