Bear's Tooth - Beartooth Highway
by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Title
Bear's Tooth - Beartooth Highway
Artist
Susan Rissi Tregoning
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
A particularly fascinating view on the Beartooth Highway is a near-perfectly sculpted pyramid that majestically ascends between the imposing granite peaks of the Beartooth Mountain range. This rock pinnacle, once known as "the Needle," was sculpted by glaciers and called the Bear's Tooth by the Crow Indians. Subsequently, it was the name given to the mountain range and the scenic highway that winds through it.
Celebrated as one of America’s most unique and picturesque scenic drives, the Beartooth Highway, a National Scenic Byways All-American Road, is a route like no other. Winding through the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains, it offers stunning vistas of high alpine plateaus, glacial lakes, forested valleys, waterfalls, and abundant wildlife. The Beartooth Highway winds through areas encircled by the Custer, Gallatin, and Shoshone National Forests, running adjacent to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness and bordering Yellowstone National Park. This region, encompassing over a million acres of wilderness, is among the most elevated and rugged in the continental United States, boasting 20 peaks that soar above 12,000 feet. Glaciers are on the northern slopes of nearly every peak exceeding 11,500 feet.
The Beartooth Highway proudly holds the title of the highest-elevation highway in Wyoming (10,947 feet) and Montana (10,350 feet), as well as in the Northern Rockies. It's a paradise for adventure enthusiasts, offering a wide range of recreational activities. Visitors can ski cross-country or downhill even in the summer months of June and July, hike across vast plateaus, observe a diverse range of wildlife such as mountain goats, moose, elk, marmots, mule deer, black bears, grizzly bears, or wolves; embark on guided horseback trips; fish for trout in nearby streams and lakes; or camp at one of the 13 National Forest campgrounds. Even during winter, when the road is closed to automobile travel, snowmobilers revel in traversing this route through a mesmerizing winter landscape.
Copyright 2024 Susan Rissi Tregoning
Uploaded
September 11th, 2024
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