After our day on the Beartooth Highway we were up early in hopes of spotting some wildlife as we traversed the northern portion of the park on our way back to Montana. What we were really hoping for was a wolf roaming the Lamar Valley. What we got was bison, elk, deer and pronghorn. Not bad, but not a wolf. The bison were causing the usual traffic jams as we worked our way across the…
Stretching 68 miles across the borders of Montana and Wyoming, the Beartooth Highway climbs to an elevation of nearly 11,000 feet through a series of switchbacks that start out in the forest and climb up into the alpine zone. To say this is a scenic drive might be a bit of an understatement.
We’ve been to Montana plenty of times. But we haven’t really focused on seeing a good portion of the state. Our first big bite in 2026 was to travel through some of the backcountry starting north and heading south in the western portion of the state. We took a day to drive nearly to Canada, and then settled in for a few days at a picturesque lake before making our way back south for the first half of July. July started out cool and rainy, much better than it ended, hot and smoky. The clouds and rain that started out our trip seem so distant now in the oppressive August heat and choking smoke, it seems like a distant memory. Our views of the mountain above the lake were obscured on arrival, but we could tell this was going to be a great place to spend a few days.
