Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (120 km)

Cody to Cooke City · back a different way, via Beartooth Highway

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Why this ride

120 km one way from Cody - plan on about 1 h 58 of riding. The stops in between: Dead Indian Pass and Sunlight Basin. The highest point is about 2,850 m. It suits an unhurried touring pace.

Roadbook

1. Cody start

   Cody was founded by a man who understood the value of a story. William F. Cody, Buffalo Bill, the scout and showman whose Wild West show toured America and Europe in the late nineteenth century, helped establish the town in 1896 on the Shoshone River in north-west Wyoming, and he built a hotel here, the Irma, named after his daughter. The cherry-wood bar in the Irma was a gift from Queen Victoria, so the story goes. Today Cody has about ten thousand people and calls itself the Rodeo Capital of the World, with a rodeo every night in summer.

   The Buffalo Bill Center of the West is a collection of five museums under one roof, covering Plains Indian cultures, Western art, natural history, firearms and Cody's life, and it is one of the best museums in the region. The Shoshone River runs through a red-rock canyon just west of town, near a huge concrete dam that was the tallest in the world when it was built in 1910, and the road to Yellowstone follows it through tunnels in the rock.

   The Chief Joseph Scenic Byway heads north-west from the area, following a route taken by the Nez Perce in 1877, when about eight hundred men, women and children fled from the US Army across Idaho, Montana and Wyoming in an attempt to reach Canada. Chief Joseph, their principal spokesman, became famous for his dignity and eloquence. The road climbs over Dead Indian Pass, at over eight thousand feet, with a view into the canyon of the Clarks Fork, a deep, narrow gorge, then runs along a high plateau to Sunlight Basin.

   You should fill the tank in Cody, since services on the byway are few and far between, and the nearest fuel beyond is a long way north-west. Take warm clothing, as mountain weather is changeable, and watch for wildlife: moose, elk, deer and bears all live here. Summer is the best time, with wildflowers in the meadows, but the road may close in winter. Cody has a good selection of restaurants and steak houses, and a plate of local beef, grilled over an open fire, is well deserved.

2. Dead Indian Pass scenic · 2451 m

   The summit of this road is a high, windy shoulder at about 2,450 metres, with a view that drops away to the west over the Clarks Fork valley and the red and grey peaks of the Absaroka Range, and the name on the sign is a hard one. The pass is part of the route taken in 1877 by the Nez Perce, who were fleeing the US Army across Idaho, Montana and Wyoming in a desperate attempt to reach Canada, and the name reflects an incident in that flight. The name has been the subject of debate for years, and it is a reminder that the landscape carries painful history.

   The Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, Wyoming Highway 296, climbs here from the Cody side, and the ascent is steep. The grade reaches ten percent in places, with tight switchbacks, narrow lanes and big drops, and the road then plunges down the other side into Sunlight Basin. It is a spectacular ride, but demanding, and caravans and large trailers are advised to avoid it. The surface is generally good, with the occasional patch of loose gravel, and traffic is light. The road is closed by snow in winter and usually opens in late spring, and snow can return at any time, even in June or September.

   The scenery is the reward. The view from the top takes in layered volcanic cliffs, forested slopes, wide meadows and the long ridge of the Absarokas, with clouds throwing moving shadows across the valleys. The air is clear and cool, and it smells of sage and pine. Elk, mule deer and the occasional black bear graze along the road, and dawn and dusk are the best times for wildlife.

   Cody, about thirty-five kilometres away, is the nearest sizeable town. It was founded by William F. Cody, the showman Buffalo Bill, in 1896, and has a fine museum complex devoted to the West, along with petrol stations, restaurants and motels. Take a layer, since wind and altitude can make it chilly. Allow time for the descent, and use engine braking on the long grades.

3. Sunlight Basin scenic

   Sunlight Basin is a broad, green valley hidden behind a mountain, and you arrive in it by dropping off the top of Dead Indian Pass and rounding a bend. Suddenly the road levels, the sky opens, and the land spreads out in ranch meadows with Sunlight Creek winding through willows, and big red cliffs and grey ridges standing guard. It is cattle country and dude-ranch country, still sparsely settled, with scattered cabins, fences and hay barns, and its beauty is the kind that makes you slow without knowing why.

   The valley sits in the heart of the Absaroka Range, a high, rugged volcanic region east of Yellowstone, and the rocks here are the debris of ancient eruptions, giving the cliffs their red, yellow and brown colours. Sunlight Creek runs down to the Clarks Fork, and the bridge where Highway 296 crosses its gorge is among the highest in Wyoming, spanning a deep, narrow canyon where the creek drops in a thin white line. Stop and look over the rail if you have a head for heights.

   The riding is a pure pleasure. After the steep descent from Dead Indian, the road runs along the valley floor in gentle curves and easy straights, with long views and the smell of sage and hay. The surface is good, the traffic light, and the main hazards are cattle on the road, deer at dusk and the occasional tractor. In summer the days are warm and the nights cool, and in autumn the aspens along the creek turn gold, making the ride glow. Snow closes the upper road in winter, and the basin is nearly cut off for months.

   The region has a long history as the hunting ground of the Crow and the Shoshone, and as part of the route taken by the Nez Perce in 1877. Later it was settled by ranchers, and some of the oldest dude ranches in the West were founded here, taking in wealthy easterners who came to ride horses and fish. Today a few lodges and ranches offer meals and beds, though hours and availability vary with the season.

   Fuel is the thing to plan. There is none in the basin, and the nearest town is Cody, about fifty kilometres away, so fill up there. The road continues to the Chief Joseph byway's far end near Crandall and the Beartooth Highway, where services are also limited. Bring food and water, and enjoy the quiet.

4. Cooke City finish

   Cooke City is a one-street mining town in the corner of Montana, perched at roughly 2,300 metres in a valley that feels cut off from everything else. It is the last settlement on the eastern end of the Beartooth Highway, only a few kilometres from the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park, and it sits so deep in the mountains that its main road is the only one in Yellowstone's neighbourhood that stays open to cars all winter. Snow here is serious. The town, along with its tiny neighbour Silver Gate, spends half the year under drifts and the other half welcoming motorcyclists who have come over the pass.

   The reason for the town's existence is metal. Prospectors found silver, lead, copper and gold in these mountains in the 1860s and 1870s, and the settlement took its name from a financier who backed some of the early mining. The boom never quite became the bonanza people hoped for, partly because of the sheer difficulty of getting ore out through such rugged country, and in the 1990s a proposed new mine just outside Yellowstone's boundary became a national fight that ended with the federal government buying out the company. Old cabins, mine buildings and a few historic false-front shops give Cooke City a frontier look that is mostly genuine.

   For riders, the town is the reward at the end of one of America's great mountain roads. Coming down from the Beartooth plateau, the highway drops through switchbacks and alpine meadows into the valley, and you roll into town with the peaks of the Absaroka range around you. The road from the east is only open from late spring to early autumn, and snow can still shut it in June or September, so check conditions before committing. From Cooke City you can continue west through the Lamar Valley, a road that rewards slow riding with bison, elk and, if you are lucky, wolves.

   Fuel is available in town, which matters, because services are thin on both sides. There are a few places to eat, a handful of motels and lodges, and a general store, and in summer they fill quickly, so book a bed if you plan to stay the night. The nights are cold even in August, and the thin air makes the stars very sharp. The Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, which also arrives here, follows the route the Nez Perce took in 1877 when they fled the US Army across these mountains, and it adds a layer of history to a corner that already feels like the edge of the map.

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