Beartooth Highway is Closing at 8 a.m. Friday, September 30 – Temporarily?

The National Park Service will close the Beartooth Pass – possibly for the season – from the Long Lake barricade to the Montana/Wyoming state line at 8 a.m. on Friday, September 30.

The weather forecast calls for three to ten inches of snow by Saturday, October 1,  on U.S. 212 over Beartooth Pass. Therefore, the National Park Service and Montana Department of Transportation will close the highway over the top of Beartooth Pass at 8 a.m. Friday.

The closure will include U.S. 212 between the Long Lake barricade and the Montana/Wyoming state line on the east summit of Beartooth Pass. While only a 24-mile stretch of the highway will be closed, it does prohibit thru traffic from Cooke City to Red Lodge.

N.P.S. and M.T.D.O.T. will reassess road conditions Monday morning. At that time, the Beartooth Highway may reopen or stay closed until Spring 2023.

Over the last few years, the Beartooth Highway had closed within the first two weeks of October. In 2020 and 2021, winter weather closed the highway for the season on Oct. 10 and Oct. 8, respectively. Unfortunately, the highway didn’t reopen after either closure.

There are four mountain passes in Wyoming affected by seasonal winter closures. Northwest Wyoming is home to two of these passes – the Beartooth Highway and the Medicine Wheel Passage (U.S. 14A) in the Bighorn Mountains.

Check the Montana and Wyoming departments of transportation websites for road updates and status for these and other highways as winter weather approaches.