Riding
Just west of the Beartooth Pass (elevation 10,947 feet) is some of the best backcountry riding Montana has to offer. You literally ride from your lodging's doorstep and you quickly rise from Cooke City's elevation at 7,600 feet to more than 10,000 feet in no time at all. While the trail map only shows 60 miles of groomed trails, we challenge you to cover it all over the course of three or four days.
Trails are groomed often and kept in great shape throughout the season and while you don't necessarily need to spend much time on them to get to the deep backcountry, they are nice for a relaxing cruise back to the cabin after a long day on the hill. The trails are well marked and, with a map you can pick up just about anywhere in town, just about anyone could find his way around the area.
Just a quarter mile outside of town you'll come across the Daisy Pass Trail, which is the shortest route to Cooke City's high country. The trail ends as you reach the saddle at Daisy Pass, where you'll find some wide-open country, countless drainages and some great boondocking. The Daisy Pass area is great for the novice rider while still offering enough technical riding for you experts. After dropping down into the bowls north of Daisy Pass, traveling back to the west will uncover some good hillclimbing, tree riding and, after a good storm, more powder than you'll know what to do with. Be sure to pay attention to the latest avalanche conditions, as some of the area is known for frequent slides.
The Lulu Trail is a little longer route to the high country, but again, you're here to ride, right? Following up the Fisher Creek drainage, you'll find some great boondocking along both sides of the trail. You could spend hours riding the deep stuff through this drainage and never get more than 300 yards from the groomed trail. While the groomer stops at the base of Lulu Pass, by mid season snowmobile traffic will have made a nice route over the pass, which again will overlook the entire Cooke City riding complex. Looking down from Lulu Pass you'll see open powder areas, rolling hills and more tree riding. Cooke City's terrain allows for nice, easy riding or some of the nastiest hillside tree riding you'll find anywhere. The Lulu and Daisy Pass areas have just about everything, no matter your skill level.