Cooke City
An old mining town at the western end of the Beartooth Highway, about 6 km from Yellowstone's Northeast Entrance, and the staging point for wolf- and bison-watching trips to Lamar Valley.
Cooke City sits at the western end of the Beartooth Highway. Mining booms in the 1870s brought it to life, and today it has just over a hundred year-round residents. A single main street is lined with timber-frame lodges, restaurants, coffee shops and outdoor gear stores. Together with neighboring Silver Gate, it is the closest supply stop outside Yellowstone's Northeast Entrance. Just inside the park lies Lamar Valley, famous for wolves, bison and bears, and many photographers stay in town so they can enter the park at dawn. In winter the Beartooth Highway closes, so the town can only be reached from the North Entrance via park roads, which makes it a popular spot for snowmobiling and cross-country skiing. The drive from Red Lodge takes about 2 hours. The town can serve as a turnaround point on the Beartooth Highway or as a stop on the way into Yellowstone.
Opening hours
All day
Nearby sights
- Clay Butte Fire Lookout
- Beartooth Lake & Beartooth Butte
- Twin Lakes & Beartooth Basin
- Beartooth Highway & Rock Creek Vista Point
- Red Lodge Mountain
- Red Lodge Historic District
- Yellowstone Wildlife Sanctuary
- Smith Mine Historic District