Day 4: Yellowstone and the Beartooth Pass

On the 4th day of our trip our plan was to spend the day on the north side of the park, as well as outside the park on a drive up to the Beartooth Mountains.

We had breakfast in our cabin and then left the Canyon Village to drive over Dunraven Pass to arrive on time for our horseback ride at Roosevelt stables. As we passed the Mount Washburn trailhead we reminisced about the time in 2017 when we hiked the trail to the summit (when Evan was only 4).

We stopped briefly at an overlook just beyond the pass, hoping to see some wildlife. There were some distant elk and bison, as well as a uinta ground squirrel closer to the roadside. A couple at the same pullout said they had seen a grizzly that same morning near Madison. Hopefully we would see some before the trip was over.

We continued on and as we were passing the Tower Junction we saw a cute, black bear cub right off the side of the road.

That bear cub was definitely cool to see. We saw a ton of baby animals on the trip.

We rolled onward to Roosevelt Stables where we had reserved a two hour trail ride,

Roosevelt Corral

Originally all three us us were supposed to be on the ride, but Shelley had a medical issue a week before (the same reason we decided not to camp) and had to bow out. The ride requires all riders to weigh in on a scale before the ride to show they are under 240 pounds (which all three of us were all safely under), but it is something to know before making reservations.

The ride was actually longer than 2 hours. It was a full three hours and covered a pretty long route that included passing by the petrified tree (Yellowstone really has a little of everything). My only complaint was they wouldn’t let us use our phones or cameras at all.

They just didn’t want to risk anyone dropping these along the trail. My phone has a tether, but they must have just gotten to a point where fetching dropped phones was no longer something they were willing to deal with. Plus they would have dropped under the horses.

Regardless, Evan and I enjoyed the ride even if we were a bit hot by the end of the ride. Shelley spent the intervening three hours with a trip back to Tower Junction and our favorite gift shop in the park.

Once we were back together we left to head to the Lamar Valley to find a spot to enjoy a picnic lunch.

Lamar Valley

As we left the Roosevelt area and passed Tower Junction, we said another black bear with cubs but due to the traffic decided to pass this bear rather than get stuck.

Lamar Valley is always considered one of the best places to see wildlife in Yellowstone. I have personally seen more wildlife in Hayden Valley, but you can almost guarantee sightings of huge buffalo herds and pronghorns in Lamar Valley.

We found a turnout overlooking the Lamar River and backed the truck in so that we could make sandwiches on the tailgate of the truck. Bringing our cooler meant we could eat on the go and not have to take a couple hours waiting for a seat at a restaurant.

After our lunch and a walk down to the river we continued on toward the Northeast Entrance and a refueling stop in Cooke City, Montana.

The Beartooth Highway

I had wanted to see the Beartooth Highway for several year but due to our travel schedules being limited on the prior trips I decided against it. This time I was set on making the trip up to Beartooth Pass and to see for ourselves just how beautiful this roadway really is.

I have to admit the first twenty miles or so were a little underwhelming for us. Pretty, but not jaw dropping. But once you pass the Top of the World Store and ascend toward the pass the views just become stunning.

There are gorgeous lakes along the route and some fantastic panoramic views just past the summit of the pass.

It would have been good to drive the entire highway to Red Lodge or to have traveled the route the other direction. I think we will be back in Montana and the Yellowstone in a few years and can enter via that driving route.

Oveall, I still have to give the nod to The Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park as America’s most beautiful drive. But this is definitely in the top five. And since it is so close to Yellowstone, I think any visitor with tie should make a trip to the Beartooth Pass part of their experience.

As we were returning to Yellowstone we saw a crowd alongside the road and figured it must be something of significant interest. And as we walked up to join the crowd we saw tow huge grizzlies in the brush below.

Seeing grizzly bears is always a huge highlight of a visit to Yellowstone, and one that is absolutely not guaranteed. After seeing all the prior animals including dozens of black bears, wolves, and more, this really made us feel pretty good.

After reentering the park proper at the northeast entrance, we saw a crowd gathered looking at some distant clff sides. We speculated that the crowd was viewing distant mountain goats, and after asking this was confirmed.

But these mountain goats were VERY distant. Beyond the range of my zoom lens. We did have a small telescope with us that I brought on a whim once I knew we would have space in the truck, and I used this to take a photo.

The mountain goat is on the right side of the photo in the middle. Maybe not a great photo, but better than nothing!

Returning the the Lamar Valley we enjoyed the views of more bison and some pronghorns, including baby pronghorns.

The wildlife viewing on this trip was exceeding our prior trips, which were also really good. It was pretty epic.

We arrived back at Roosevelt to have dinner. Unfortunately there was a long line so we sauntered hungrily back to the car.

There was no way we were going to eat at Canyon Village’s crappy cafeteria. So we made the decision to drive to Mammoth and hopefully we’d be able to get seated at their dining room.

Mammoth Hot Springs

It’s a bit of a drive to Mammoth Hot Springs but at the same time it was nice to get this portion of the park into our trip. You really have to do the full figure eight drive through the park.

We arrived at the dining room and were pretty elated to be seated. Otherwise? Not sure but we really wanted a good dinner and some well deserved beers.

This was the best dinner we had in Yellowstone. The following night we had reservations in Grant Village Restaurant, but we enjoyed this dinner much more.

After our dinner I decided we should drive south instead of the road we had take to Mammoth so that we could see that part of the park. And we saw the elk that hang around Mammoth Hot Springs as well.

We made our south on the park road until we came to Norris Junction where the Norris Canyon Road connects to Canyon Village. The prior day we had arrived at the junction and saw a huge line of cars trying to find parking at the Norris Geyser Basin. But at 8:30 PM, the lot was practically empty.

With that in mind we drove in and parked, deciding to visit the geyser basin at sunset.

Norris Geyser Basin

We visited this geyser basin in 2017 when our kids were young, but only saw half of the thermal features. This time I wanted to explore more of the basin.

I made a video of our visit, with the evening stroll with Evan and Shelley in the Porcelain Basin portion of the area, and a return trip I made to the other half of the basin the following morning.

It was neat to see the sun setting over the glassy surface of hot spring-fed Porcelain Basin. It was nice to meander without crowds and feeling genuinely at ease in comparison to the prior day in the Upper Geyser Basin.

It was another eventful and memorable day in the park and in the Beartooths. We had another full day planned for tomorrow and returned back to Canyon for the night.