Could you point me in the right direction to ride both of these? I appreciate it !
thanks
The way I've been thinking about doing it is to overnight, most likely in Cody, WY. Head out early next morning going north on Hwy 120. About 16 miles or so north of Cody, turn west on 296, the Chief Joseph Highway (aka Crandall Road). You'll go up and over Dead Indian Hill and by the Dead Indian Summit Overlook, through several switchbacks, then northwesterly down and into Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River Valley. And then about 46 miles after you turned off of Hwy 120, you'll "T" into US Hwy 212, the Beartooth Highway.
From the intersection of the Chief Joseph Hwy and Beartooth Hwy (296 and 212), you can turn right (east) and it's 50 miles to Red Lodge, MT, through amazing switchbacks, up and over Beartooth Pass, back down through more amazing switchbacks, on what is often called the most beautiful drive in the US, and into Red Lodge.
Or, at the intersection of the Chief Joseph Hwy and Beartooth Hwy, you can take a left and meander sorta northwesterly for about 18 miles to the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park, and there turn around and do the whole Beartooth to Red Lodge. Eat lunch at Red Lodge and turn around and do the Beartooth and Chief Joseph back to Cody.
Or you could overnight in Red Lodge and do it backwards from my above description. I don't know which would be better from a sun-angle point of view. But doing the Beartooth and Chief Joseph, both ways, is do-able in a day, starting and finishing either in Cody, WY or Red Lodge, MT or even Belfry, MT. If anybody knows a better way of doing this, sound off.