Beartooth And Dunraven Passes Open For Summer 2023 Traveling Season

Two scenic highways in northwest Wyoming have opened up for motorists.

On Friday (May 26th), US Highway 212 over the Beartooth Pass opened for the summer 2023 season.

The area that reopened is between 9.4 miles east of the intersection of US Highway 212 and Wyoming State Highway 296, to about 12 miles southwest of Red Lodge, Montana.

That section of highway gets up to almost 11,000 feet above sea level, which is a few miles south of the Wyoming-Montana border.

The highway normally closes for the winter season in mid October, because too much snow combined with too little traffic, makes snow plowing efforts on the highway impractical.

US 212 did not see as much traffic last year compared to most years, because of flooding and road damage caused by snow melt in middle June.

Also the Dunraven Pass highway within Yellowstone National Park is now open.

The road on the northeast side of the park connects Canyon Village to Tower Fall.

Although the roads are open, bad weather could force road crews to temporarily re-close them, to get them cleared again.