Driving the Depression-Era Daring of Beartooth Highway

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When compared to epic road trips like Route 66 or the Pacific Coast Highway, Beartooth Highway is a hop, skip, and a jump.

However, don’t let its short mileage fool you. This scenic drive packs a lot into its 68.7 miles. The late Charles Kuralt called it “the most beautiful drive in America.”

It’s also one of the most dangerous routes; reaching an elevation of 10,947 feet, Beartooth Highway winds and wends its way through twenty peaks that exceed 12,000 feet on hairpin curves marked by sheer drop-offs and guardrails that offer the barest illusion of safety. The weather is mercurial, and, even if the road is open, you never know if you’ll get caught in a blizzard.

And yet, there are glaciers and 10,000 mountain lakes, three National Forests and tumbling streams. Overlooks that look over ripples of evergreen trees contrasted with alpine tundra, and if you look down, if you dare to look down, the snaking blacktop of Depression-era daring.

Is it worth it?

Driving into Red Lodge, Montana

The road’s only open a few months of the year. As my husband, Jim, and I planned our northwestern U.S. road trip, we…