America's most beautiful drive

When we were accumulating states on our 48 state quest, we stopped in Billings for gas but we had no time to sightsee.  We can now say we have sightseed Montana.  There are several things we wanted to see around Billings and top of the list was the Beartooth Highway which has been called “America's most beautiful drive “.  That said, many would argue that Glacier’s Going-to-the-Sun Road  is better.  I have no dog in the fight and just based upon pictures, Glacier likely wins.  That said, Beartooth is extraordinary.

After our windy arrival, we spent the afternoon in and around Billings.  The airport sits on a mesa and there are 500’ sandstone cliffs parallel to the land called the Rim Rocks.  They have several overlooks and we enjoyed the views.  After dumping our stuff at our hotel we headed out to see the Four Dances recreation area.  It has a nice overlook of the town and the Yellowstone River.  We wwould see a lot of this river in the coming days.  The recreation area trail is a quick climb up a steep hill.  As we reached the top the wind was bracing, it almost blew us over.  The official report was 29 gusting 42. But with the topography, it felt like more.

We enjoyed the views and then headed up the road to the Pictograph Cave State Park.  It's small but a nice hike.  We walked around, and viewed the remnants of cave art.  We have seen other examples and I stand by my previous opinion, the key to longevity in the art world is finding how to make really indelible markings on rocks.  Canvas juest doesn't have the same staying power.  Frankly, their drawing skills are a bit suspect.

The final stop of the day was downtown to see the street art.  They have decorated the traffic boxes, each one painted differently.  I doubt these will survive as long as the cave drawings.  

The next morning we awoke early as we still were on Eastern time.  This meant we were on the road at 7:45 but it felt like 9:45 to us.  Our objective today was the Beartooth highway.  Many people drive the Beartooth highway both ways but we made a loop.  We started at the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway and then joined the Highway near Cooke City.

While the Beartooth is the more famous route, the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway is just as stunning. The drive is a winding road and you have rapid changes in elevation.  We drove from overlook to overlook and enjoyed consistent breathtaking views.

It is typically only open mid May to mid October due to snow.  It was hard to believe that the area would be snowed in in just a few weeks.  There had been a weather advisory a few days before we arrived when a quick storm swept through.  With the warm temperatures there was no ongoing impact.

We did not see much wildlife other than chipmunks but there were plenty of free range cows.  The land is a mix of federal and private land and there are signs warning you to avoid the cows.  They were ever present munching on the grass by the highway.  Luckily they focused on the grass and avoided the pavement.

The chipmunks were a bit brave for my taste.  Unfortunately too many people feed them which is bad for the furry critters and really not too bright.  It’s all fun and games until a critter infects you with rabies and you die.  We saw some feeding first hand later in the day and it makes you wonde about your fellow citizens.

We saw several waterfalls and went as far as Cooke City.  It’s not much of a town but we did get ice cream.  The waterfalls were all small but long time readers will know I am a sucker for any falling water.  In addition to falling water, there were also many lakes.  The books say more than 950 and while we saw many, I think we missed a few.  

One thing I really liked was the variety.  We were looking at mountains but there were many different kinds, yes geologically this is probably all wrong but visually there were so many types.  Some were grey and spiky, some rocky, some forested, some red, some that looked like striations ripped from the ground and much much more.

Overall it was a perfect day for a visit, clear blue skies, mild temperatures, light winds, light traffic and no crowds.  The one cold spot was the Bear Tooth Pass where we ascended to 10,900’ and had sweeping views of the winding highway and terrain.  Fun fact we were higher in the car than we had been on the trip out in the airplane.

While we were here to visit Montana, we spent a good amount of time over the border in Wyoming.  We drove a total of 265 miles with 114 on the official scenic highways.  Though the scenic highway is the official viewing area, we found almost all of the journey had great views even if not designated a scenic byway.