This is the stretch where the Beartooth Highway shows off. After climbing out of the Rock Creek valley in a series of long switchbacks, the road emerges onto a vantage point with a big, open view back down the canyon. The Rock Creek Vista Point sits a little over nine thousand feet up, and from the railing you look down a deep glacial trough, a U-shaped valley carved by ice, with the road you have just climbed threading up its side and a tangle of peaks beyond.
The geology here is on a grand scale. The valley was gouged out by glaciers during the Ice Age, and the walls show the smooth, polished look of ice-scoured granite. Streams tumble from the snowfields above, and the meadows below are dotted with small lakes. The view is especially good in the morning, when the low sun picks out the ridges, and in the evening, when the rock glows orange.
The ride up to this point is among the most exciting in the country. The highway ascends the mountainside in a series of hairpins and long sweeping bends, with views opening at every turn, and a large, looping switchback known simply as the Hairpin is the most dramatic. The road is well surfaced, but the drops are steep, so ride within your limits and keep your eyes up. Cyclists labour up the slope, and you will meet motorhomes taking the bends wide.
There are no services here, just a small viewpoint with a toilet, so make sure you have fuel and water. The weather can change in minutes, with cloud coming down over the road and a drop in temperature that catches the unprepared. If it is cold, enjoy the view from the viewpoint while the clouds lift, rather than pressing on in poor visibility.
Look out for marmots and pikas among the rocks beside the car park, and for the occasional bighorn sheep on the cliff. Allow time for photographs, because this is one of those places where you want to linger. The best light is in the morning, and the crowds thin out after sunset, though the road is hardly the place to be after dark.