Skline01
Norton Shores, Mi
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I am planning a fall trip from Western Michigan to the Tetons and Yellowstone in the fall. When I thought about it I decided I should add Glacier NP on this trip because I don't know when I will be this way again and with the price of gas adding another 1000 miles to this trip would be cheaper than an separate trip later. One of the things we want to do is go across Bear Tooth Pass while on the trip. I know that you cannot take RV across that. We had originally planned to go to Red Lodge - park the MH and do a day trip of Beartooth. My question is really the best route/solution from Yellowstone to Glacier and back to Red lodge so we can still do the Beartooth before we return to Michigan Any insight or thoughts would be appreciated.
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enblethen
Moses Lake, WA
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I would come west and go over Beartooth Pass on your way to Yellowstone. Depending on your westbound route, if on I-90 cut off a Laurel on to US 212 toward Red Lodge. Nice trip over pass! Take your time going over the pass.
Enter yellowstone through the northeast entance.
Visit Yellowstone then go straight north to Glacier.
US 2 is a good return trip east. Nice scenery and campgrounds.
Bud
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skipnchar
Topeka or somewhere else
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No reason you can't take an RV over Beartooth. It is actually not a very rugged pass (compared to many others anyway).
As for the route to Glacier from Yellowstone, I've always found that the most scenic route is US 191 out of West Yellowstone, to I-90, then west to Helena and a bit beyond. Take Montana route 83 into the Glacier area. 83 is a very pleasant drive along the West side of the Flathead Resivoir and through nice countryside with a number of great campgrounds along the route (should you decide to make two days out of it).
Good luck and enjoy the trip / Skip
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agesilaus
North Florida
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Darn we missed that when we were up there last year. This site doesn't say anything about restricting RVs:
Scenic Highways site
There's a phone number there to call to check conditions. Since it's supposed to be blizzard conditions in the Dakotas today you have to expect a possible delay in getting that road open. So it would be good to check.
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coolmom42
Middle Tennessee
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Any vehicle you take across the Beartooth Pass needs 1) a skilled driver who knows how to manage speed with the tranny and stay off the brakes 2) good tires 3) good brakes, even with good gear management you will need some serious braking power.
Personally I would not do it in anything bigger than a full-size pickup, due to the tight curves. I would not do it pulling a trailer. It's just too risky, it is not the place you want to test the brakes.
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CloudDriver
New Jersey Shore
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We drove our Minnie over the Beartooth Highway from Red Lodge to Yellowstone back in Sept. 2007. No problem at all and a beautiful drive. From Red Lodge, it is a 5,500 ft climb to the top of the pass at 11,000 ft. From there it is a descent of only 2,800 ft to the northeast entrance of Yellowstone near Cooke City. I don't recall the downhill portion of the drive being all that steep, but memory fades. Below are some pictures we took on the way to the top from Red Lodge.
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katleman
San Jose
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CloudDriver wrote:We drove our Minnie over the Beartooth Highway from Red Lodge to Yellowstone back in Sept. 2007. No problem at all and a beautiful drive. We've done the same drive in the same size rig in 2004 & 2009. Wouldn't hesitate to do it again. But I have a bunch of mountain driving experience, both before and since RVs. Slow and steady is always your friend.
If you're planning a day trip over Beartooth, consider a loop, returning via Chief Joseph. Did that route in 2009, and I'd have to say it's a bit more scenic than Beartooth.
As to Glacier from Yellowstone, done that twice, for the same reason, while we're all the way out there, might as well. We went even further north, to Banff, same reason, in the general area. While you can do the drive in a single day, we enjoyed 2009 much more by breaking up the drive. We took HWY89 north from Livingston, overnighting in a NFCG about an hour south of Great Falls, enjoyable drive. Continued up 89 on up to Browning the next day and on into Glacier.
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TexasH
Katy, TX
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We were in Yellowstone a couple of years ago and stayed at Fishing Bridge. We didn't do Beartooth, but looking at the map, it's a doable day trip from Fishing Bridge. You could go into Yellowstone by any route and then do a day trip. It looks to me like a great drive, but not with a coach and toad. That could get a little exciting!
We left Fishing Bridge and exited the park at the north entrance at Gardiner, and took US191 north to Bozeman, then I90 west. Stopped overnight in Butte, then continued on I90 past Missoula to US93. US 93 north to State Route 35 near the south end of Flathead Lake. Then SR 35 up the east side of the lake and on to Hungry Horse. Then US2 into West Glacier.
It's an easy drive and the last part (after getting off the interstates) is very scenic. You could make the whole trip in one day if you can handle a long day and you're a glutton for punishment. We like to take it easy and made two days of the trip.
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tiptoe tommy
Seattle
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Beartooth is an easy day trip from any campground in the North part of the park. The drive through the Lamar Valley is beautiful on the way. We turned around at the viewpoint about 1/3 of the way down the switchbacks down into Red Lodge. That makes it a doable road trip. You can do it with your rig, but you will have more fun in a car.
287 is a great road to take to Glacier all the way to Browning. Depending on the length of your stay, I think St. Mary's is the best homebase to explore the park from. Hookups at the KOA, beautiful sites at the park campground.
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bigjettech
Bartlett,Il
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You didn't say how long you were staying in Yellowstone. If you have enough time just do a day trip out of the northeastern entrance and do the Beartooth,thats what we did. Another option anyway. I wouldn't want to drive it towing or with a large MH. Not saying it can't be done but I know I wouldn't enjoy the drive. With the spring we've been having I'll bet there's a ton of snow up there yet. We didn't make it to Glacier,not enough time, I was disappointed as I really wanted to go but didn't want to cut short the Yellowstone trip.
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