Beartooth Plateau: Up and Over the Top of the World

By Julie Francis

YELLOWSTONE — The Beartooth Mountains present one of the most formidable obstacles to modern transportation in North America. First uplifted during the Laramide Orogeny between 80 and 55 million years ago, folding and faulting continued in the southern portion of the uplift until 2 million years ago. This created the high tablelands of the Beartooth Plateau. Pleistocene glaciation has clearly left its mark. Just as glacial ice sculpted the mountain peaks, glaciers flowed down the sides of the plateau, carving the steep valleys of the Clark Forks and Rock Creek and scouring portions of the plateau to the Precambrian core.

The Beartooth Plateau was known and used by American Indians. However, elevations near 11,000 ft., a harsh alpine climate, high winds, and unimaginably steep and rugged topography limited 19th century exploration to a few prospectors and trappers. It was not until 1882 that the first organized expedition, lead by U.S. Army General Philip Sheridan, successfully crossed the plateau from Yellowstone Park to the lower Clarks Fork Valley. Nevertheless, with the discovery of gold and other precious metals near Cooke City, Montana in 1869 and the establishment of Yellowstone National Park in 1872, the need for access to the high country for both tourists and miners became clear.

Yellowstone opened to automobiles in 1915; dude ranches were established as early as 1910, and the desire to open a Red Lodge to Cooke City automobile road grew. Five miles of road from Red Lodge up the mountain were built in 1919 by local promoters with their own funds, and lobbying of politicians and agency officials ran heavy. Finally in 1931, the U.S. Congress passed the National Park Approaches Act with an appropriation of $3 million. The Red Lodge to Cooke City approach road was the first project to receive funding under this act for construction of 60 miles of roadway beginning eight miles southwest of Red Lodge to the northeast gate of the Park. The remaining eight miles into Red Lodge was built by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Public Roads.

The route of what is now designated as U.S. 212, or the Beartooth Scenic Highway, followed much the same route taken by Sheridan’s 1882 expedition – from Cooke City to Colter Pass, along the Upper Clarks Fork, over Beartooth Pass and across the Plateau at the “Top of the World.” Construction was completed in segments and by several different contractors between 1931 and 1936 and included major rock cutting, grading, innumerable switchbacks, and 13 bridges. Landscape architects helped design bridge abutments and guardrails to “harmonize” with the setting. Quickly dubbed the “World’s Most Scenic” roadway, the Beartooth Highway received national attention. Most segments have been upgraded since 1936, and the highway is open only during the summer months. For its lasting contributions to the history of the region and its engineering, the Beartooth Highway was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014.

Be sure to check out Part 1 of The Yellowstone Region: The Flight of the Nez Percé