Cooke City, located in the heart of the Beartooth Mountains and bordered by the Custer, Shoshone and Gallatin national forests, offers breathtaking scenery and small-town charm. The city is only slightly more than 3 mi/5 km beyond the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Lodging, dining and shopping is available.
The road between Cooke City and Gardiner is open in the winter, making the area a wonderful stop for cross-country skiing and for snowmobiling enthusiasts. Beartooth Scenic Highway (Highway 212) between Cooke City and Red Lodge is one of the most beautiful drives in Montana. It's open from Memorial Day through mid-October, when the road is free of ice and snow. Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (Highway 296), also known as Sunlight Basin Road, begins southeast of Cooke City and ends at Cody, Wyoming. This byway, which is open almost year-round, is named for the Nez Perce tribal chief who fled the U.S. Cavalry in 1877 in a failed attempt to reach Canada.
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