yellowstone via beartooth pass and return via cody wy

30 foot 6000lb bumper pull with a cummins rig.  friend has a 23 foot 3500lb bumper pull with a gas v8.

Both passes 10,000'+ I believe.  I would like to go thru redlodge on the way there and on the return via the one south of beartooth via cody.  Who has attempted this?  Any advice?  Or reason to avoid this idea?

Someone mentioned here that yellowstone isn't rv friendly.  At least the roads aren't.  We would like to set up camp somewhere centrally located and explore from there.

If we were to camp at the middle of the figure 8, what is the best strategy for exploring the park?  Someone wrote you would want a minimum of 5 days here.  Will it take us 4 hours to drive to the northern section just to see 1 thing then 4 hour drive back?  Is it that busy?  Or is it like an hour to get to an attraction furthest from the campgrounds and an hour back. 

perhaps we should try to stay a few days on the north border, then move camp to another location or 2 throughout our stay.  However I think that would take alot of time and energy to move camp and travel thru the park with the trailers. 

Thoughts?  Advice?  Nightmare stories?  All welcome.  Thanks!

jetjarv said:

30 foot 6000lb bumper pull with a cummins rig.  friend has a 23 foot 3500lb bumper pull with a gas v8.

Both passes 10,000'+ I believe.  I would like to go thru redlodge on the way there and on the return via the one south of beartooth via cody.  Who has attempted this?  Any advice?  Or reason to avoid this idea?

Someone mentioned here that yellowstone isn't rv friendly.  At least the roads aren't.  We would like to set up camp somewhere centrally located and explore from there.

If we were to camp at the middle of the figure 8, what is the best strategy for exploring the park?  Someone wrote you would want a minimum of 5 days here.  Will it take us 4 hours to drive to the northern section just to see 1 thing then 4 hour drive back?  Is it that busy?  Or is it like an hour to get to an attraction furthest from the campgrounds and an hour back. 

perhaps we should try to stay a few days on the north border, then move camp to another location or 2 throughout our stay.  However I think that would take alot of time and energy to move camp and travel thru the park with the trailers. 

Thoughts?  Advice?  Nightmare stories?  All welcome.  Thanks!

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People do pull Beartooth pass with trailers and MHs with toweds, I would not do it unless absolutely necessary.  Google Beartooth Pass and look at the pictures and also go to Google maps and look at the aerial photos and the map.  Red Lodge is around 3,000 feet and the pass is 10,000+ so you have quite a climb.

I would recommend that you stay at the KOA or other park in RL and drive the pass and go to Cody.  Take a  picnic lunch and enjoy the scenery of the trip and come back an alternate way.  While in RL, sample some of the fine restaurants and go to the pig races east of town.  Then pack up the trailers and come out to I-90 and head west to either Livingston or Bozeman/Belgrade and head south to YP from there. 

I'll let someone with recent experience of parking in YP comment as to the places in the park.  We normally stay in West Yellowstone or Gardner area and do the Park from there.  Our preference is West Yellowstone at Grizzly RV Park.

cody to yellowstone has a scenic pass as well right?  highway 16 perhaps?  That is a high pass as well, but I believe it is more rv friendly with not as steep climbs and descents and without the hairpin turns? 

looks like 212 and 296 and the steep grades with hairpin turns.

Many years back Red Lodge had a pizza joint with the BEST pizza's.  I love those with uncommon toppings.  Artichokes, bell peppers, a basil sauce instead of the traditional red one.  I wonder if that place is still there.  Probably wouldn't find it unless someone has been there and remembers the name.

We stayed at Fishing Bridge and did all of Yellowstone from there. Five days was still not enough. Quite a trip to the northern part pof the park from there.

Leaving, we went straight out to Cody. Nice and beautiful drive.

From Cody we did the Beartooth in the toad. About an hour drive to Cooke City then across Beartooth to Red Lodge the about an hour back to Cody. Actually we did it twice as the batteries went dead in our camera at the store that is about half way.

I probably could drive the beartooth in my MH but really wouldn't want to. Really a lot of steeeeep grades and hairpin turns but beautiful to an old southern flatland boy.

Don't worry about the time to get to one part of the park.  In YP you don't just drive to a spot, look around, and then drive back - the entire journey is a series of events. There are sights to see along every route in and around the park, so each day's drive is an experience. You will see bison and elk, lakes and waterfalls, geysers and springs, and all sorts of natural wonders. So just plan on taking your time and meandering around.  We've stayed at both West Yellowstone and outside the North Entrance and visited the entire park from each place.  I recommend spring or fall rather than the busy summer months, though. Heck, its still plenty busy in October!

jetjarv,

We have driven the Beartooth from Cody to Red Lodge via the Chief Joseph Highway. Personally, I would not want to tow a trailer on that road. It's full of twists and turns and I don't remember if there was any place you could actually stop with a rig that long to view the scenery. If you do take the trailer, you will most likely spend all your time watching the road and miss the scenery. Better to drive a car.

Yellowstone is not unfriendly to RV's. The roads are fine but, again, there will be fewer places to pull off when towing. The park has 2.2 million acres. It's not a one day event. We spent 4 months in Yellowstone this past summer, three of them working, and still could not see everything. I would recommend finding a campground, either in the park or just outside, and take time to really enjoy all that Yellowstone has to offer. The lower loop alone is about 80 miles long!

Gary RV Roamer said:

Don't worry about the time to get to one part of the park.  In YP you don't just drive to a spot, look around, and then drive back - the entire journey is a series of events. There are sights to see along every route in and around the park, so each day's drive is an experience. You will see bison and elk, lakes and waterfalls, geysers and springs, and all sorts of natural wonders. So just plan on taking your time and meandering around.  We've stayed at both West Yellowstone and outside the North Entrance and visited the entire park from each place.  I recommend spring or fall rather than the busy summer months, though. Heck, its still plenty busy in October!

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what i'm wondering about for example if you just drove that north loop without stopping, how long would it take to get back to the fish ridge, fishing pier, forget the name, campground? 

if there is an attraction on the northern area and it takes 4 hours to get there, you spend an hour or 2 there, then 4 hours to get back, i can't really do anything else that day.  so then maybe I would want to stay a few days in a campground by the north entrance, then move the rig to a campground in the center for a few days, then move the rig again to a campground by the south entrance for a few days.

but at the same time if we can get to that attraction in an hour or 2, we can stop and see alot of sites on the way up there and on the way back.  if this is the case we will just stay at the 1 campground.

Jim Dick said:

jetjarv,

We have driven the Beartooth from Cody to Red Lodge via the Chief Joseph Highway. Personally, I would not want to tow a trailer on that road. It's full of twists and turns and I don't remember if there was any place you could actually stop with a rig that long to view the scenery. If you do take the trailer, you will most likely spend all your time watching the road and miss the scenery. Better to drive a car.

Yellowstone is not unfriendly to RV's. The roads are fine but, again, there will be fewer places to pull off when towing. The park has 2.2 million acres. It's not a one day event. We spent 4 months in Yellowstone this past summer, three of them working, and still could not see everything. I would recommend finding a campground, either in the park or just outside, and take time to really enjoy all that Yellowstone has to offer. The lower loop alone is about 80 miles long!

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ok, thanks for the road info.  we won't take the rig thu those passes.  looks like the east entrance from cody direct to yp would be ok then.  Just stay away from those 2 northern passes.  thanks!

You mention the 80 mi lower loop.  30mph it would take 3 hours to make that loop.  for an 8 hour day of excitement, we have little kids, that would give us about 5 hours a day to get out of the car and explore/eat/etc.  if we devoted 4 days to the lower loop and 4 days to the upperloop we would be able to see alot. 

thanks for everyone's advice!

Remember also ~~ While in Yellowstone you do not get to regulate your MPH ~~ The BUFFALO do.  Do not look at a map and say ok that is 'X' mi long I can drive it in 'Y' hours.  JM2?

We have done the Beartooth highway through Red Lodge and Cooke City into the northeast entrance of Yellowstone and it is a beautiful drive.  That said, if you are unfamiliar with mountian driving I would suggest you tackle something a little less steep/winding prior.

We took our 40 footer towing our Jeep over it without issue but if you decide to do it make absolutely sure your rig's maintenance is up to par such as brakes, cooling system and transmission.  This pass will definately test your vehicles systems to the max.

We also did Hwy14 a few year back and that was a steep pull also but there again, very beautiful drive.

Last year we went to Mt. Rushmore and headed to Cody/Yellowstone with family members and friends.  None of them wanted to tackle the Beartooth Highway or Burgess Junction so we took highway 16 from Buffalo over towards Cody.  That is a nice drive with minimal grades yet still quite scenic.  Nice wide spots to pull over and take pictures or stop for lunch.  That would be the one I would recommend.

As far as places to stay to tour Yellowstone, we are partial to Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone.  Driving the RVs through Yellowstone NP is not a big deal.  I actually kind of enjoy it.  We just drove from east to west, got settled into our campsite at Grizzly RV then unhooked the Jeep and did our sightseeing.  Driving time can vary going through the park due to animals, congestion, and roadwork.  Good luck and enjoy the scenery.  Mike.

We stayed in Cody last year and went to the park three times.  A long drive - 52 miles to the East Entrance, 102 miles to Old Faithful.  Also went in the North entrance one time.  It's an awful lot of driving, but the scenery is wonderful.  With diesel prices this year, we're trying to stay closer to the attractions.  Will try staying near the West entrance this year. 

Grizzly RV park is ideally situated to the west entrance. A little pricey but a nice campground. It's 30 miles to Old Faithful from West Yellowstone.

I will not drive my 5th wheel over the Beartooth.  It is one of the roads I want to take my motorcycle.  (bucket list)  Yellowstone is a great area.  I like camping in Montana close to the park and day tripping to the park.  There is lots of camping opportunities between the park and Bozeman or Livingston.  Be sure to go the the Buffalo Bill museum when in Cody.  I am kind of a history and gun buff so it really peaks my interest.  Sounds like a fun trip.