For those who haven’t had the pleasure of traversing Going-to-the-Sun Road, it is the only road through the heart of Glacier National Park in Montana. It was completed in 1932, and is the only road that crosses the park, going over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. The road is generally only accessible during the summer and it is an absolute engineering achievement. 

And so I come to the Beartooth Parkway. It winds its way up and over the Beartooth Mountains from Red Lodge to Cook City in southwestern Montana and serves as an access point to the northeastern entrance to Yellowstone. Given its altitude, it too is really only accessible in the summer. In a way, I found this drive more challenging that driving Going-to-the-Sun Road. Those with vertigo need not apply given the sheer drop offs and hairpin turns, many without guardrails (so as to not obstruct the view, obviously). 

The photos are poor since I didn’t realize I had left my camera at 3,400+ ISO. Tip: don’t do that, it’ll ruin your photos. Sadly, the best photos were the ones taken by my iPhone.

The road crests at the pass behind the snow bank in the middle of the photo and stays along the ridge before dropping off on the other side of the range.

Typical drop:

Lots of switchbacks. The chipmunk looks intrigued.