Beartooth Highway snow arrived weeks ahead of schedule this weekend, dusting one of the country’s highest roads in Montana and Wyoming. An early cold front dropped 1 to 3 inches of accumulation above 10,000 feet on Sunday, Aug. 30, according to K2 Radio. Temperatures at the higher elevations fell to around 32 degrees as the system moved through.
The snow stuck to the highest stretches of U.S. 212, creating slush and slick spots near the summit. Lower elevations along the route stayed dry. The road remained open for travel throughout the event.
Beartooth Highway Snow By the Numbers
The Beartooth Highway is one of the highest paved roads in the northern Rockies, climbing to 10,947 feet at Beartooth Pass on the Wyoming side. Designated an All-American Road, the 68-mile route connects Red Lodge, Montana, to Cooke City, Montana, running along the border of Wyoming and skirting the northeast edge of Yellowstone National Park. Its elevation makes it prone to snow well outside the traditional winter months — the highway typically doesn’t close for the season until mid-October, and even then, spring and early summer openings are routinely delayed by leftover snowpack.
Why the Beartooth Highway Sees Snow So Early
Sunday’s snowfall wasn’t an isolated event. The same weekend brought the first snow of the 2026-27 season to three ski resorts farther west: Crystal Mountain, Washington, saw accumulation across its upper elevations, while Banff Sunshine, Alberta, and Kicking Horse and Panorama Mountain, British Columbia, reported 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) on their higher terrain.
Check the Montana and Wyoming Departments of Transportation websites for road updates and status.
The high-elevation Beartooth Highway, US 212, connecting Yellowstone National Park with Red Lodge, Montana, opened for the season on May 22. Beartooth Basin ski area, the nation’s only summer ski area, opened May 25.
The 68-mile road, which peaks at 10,947 feet, typically closes from early Fall through April or May due to deep snow.
The Beartooth Highway is an All-American Road on a section of U.S. Route 212 in Montana and Wyoming between Red Lodge and the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone National Park, passing over the Beartooth Pass in Wyoming at 10,947 feet (3,337 m) above sea level. It has been called “the most beautiful drive in America” by the late CBS correspondent Charles Kuralt. Due to heavy snowfall at the top, the pass is typically open each year only from mid-May to mid-October, weather permitting.
North America’s Only Summer-Only Ski Area
Beartooth Basin Ski Area is a cash-only ski area located at Beartooth Pass in the Shoshone National Forest on the Montana-Wyoming border in the United States. It is the only ski area in North America that is open only in the summer, typically from late May to early July, as U.S. 212 is closed in winter. It opened in 1962 and totals 600 acres at an elevation of 10,900 feet. Two platter lifts serve the area.
Every year from late May to early July, the mission of Beartooth Basin is to keep the spirit of skiing alive with two surface lifts atop the iconic 10,000-foot elevation Beartooth Pass, MT-WY. Formerly known as Red Lodge International Summer Racing Camp, Beartooth Basin is one of North America’s oldest alpine ski training areas.
Ownership changed in 2003 when an adventurous group of Red Lodge locals invested in the race camp, opening the door to a younger generation of skiing enthusiasts – freestyle skiers, big mountain riders, terrain park jibbers, and, of course, anyone keen on summer skiing.
Beartooth Basin is no ordinary ski hill. You could describe it as backcountry skiing with a lift. Similar to traditional lift-served ski facilities, the Basin is staffed with professional ski patrollers and skillful lift attendants. Like other ski areas, it faces extreme economic challenges – including aging infrastructure, high equipment costs, expensive insurance policies, and rigorous engineering inspections. All of these obstacles are made even more difficult by the access issues experienced due to its remote location, which is at the whim of multiple surface owner-operators of US Hwy 212.
