cooke city
- Thread starter jkpolaris
- Start date
Hwy 212 is closed from Red Lodge to Cooke in the winter. You can either drive thru Yellowstone (from Garnder) into town or there is a parking lot about 9 miles from town that you can ride into town.
Cooke is awesome, If I were you I would go the chief Joseph HWY. Route. The park and ride is what we always do (with the exception of last year) the drive out from minneapolis is about 15 hours to the park and ride, as long as there are no storms and the roads are clear, you can do it faster but 65 MPH saves on the diesel. if you drive into town you run into the possibility of the gates being closed because of a snow storm, than who knows when you will get there. We drove into town last year and the extra 3 hours in the truck sucked, where as the park and ride is only ten miles away and it takes 15 minutes to sled to town... PARK AND RIDE....
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firecatguy
Well-known member
by the time you unload and drive to town it does not save that much time!!
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CuzzinOlaf
Active member
Do the park and ride and just stuff everything into one huge duffel bag. We did this last year and the ride was less than 15 minutes. Depending on when and for how long, think about going back to the truck at least once to start it. We took 94 all the way. I remember there was a reason people said to avoid 90 but can't remember why.
even if it took you a half hour to get your snow suit on and stuff loaded i would still rather ride the sled to town than sit in a truck for an extra 3 hours, and like i said that is if the roads to town are even open from gardiner to cooke.
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firecatguy
Well-known member
ya itsnot a 3hr dif i talked to alot of locals and guys from here that been going to cooke for years at best you save an hour by parking and riding in!!think of it this way--do you get up vary early to leave than you have to fire your cold sled up put your suit on then drive out to pk lot, load-- put your suit away!!we leave to come home at 400am and we also load the sleds the night before as the only thing we need to do is go by bearclaws and grab a cup of coffee i think it takes longer than 1hr to unload grab your stuff and drive to town!! but i will say if everyone went right to town-- ther is not enuff parking
but then if your comming with an enclosed then all that is null and void cuz all you do is pull in and thro your gear down!!we put one in the truck and two on the trailer then have to find room for are bags!!
but then if your comming with an enclosed then all that is null and void cuz all you do is pull in and thro your gear down!!we put one in the truck and two on the trailer then have to find room for are bags!!
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800Cat
Active member
Its not that bad!!! I just leave Billings, MT on Sat. morning around 5am and were at the parking lot at sun up and ride to sun down and repeat process the following weekend. I guess once and awhile we do stay the weekend and we just ride into town on sleds but we don't have to pack for a whole weeks worth. Sorry tho guys but i just had to rub it in.
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800Cat
Active member
I would say its about 10 miles its not to far and the trail is usually in pretty good shape.
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untouchable
Active member
If you're from the midwest you should try the park atleast once. Its actually really scenic to see all the bison and elk along the road, and in most cases in the middle of the road. It is a detour, but that way you can stay in a nice hotel with your sled parked 10ft out your door. We always come from Bozeman and so its best to go through Gardiner. The riding in the area can accomodate alot of different riding styles; whether its trails, boondocking in tons of pow, hillclimbing insane chutes, or jumping. It is truely one of the best places to ride in the state.
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Clarke673
Somewhere between too dumb to quit and flat earth
WOHOO G-TOWN! YEAH!
I drive through the park but its only 54 miles for me
If i were you guys i would just drive to red lodge and then ride into cooke. On one of the trips, go through the park or somethin, but i am VERY sick of the park but then again i drive through it a lot.
As for the road being closed? I had to wait 2 times this year. ONce was from a fallen tree and the other was a car got stuck in a snowdrift in the middle of the road and i pulled up out. The road is never closed.
I drive through the park but its only 54 miles for me
If i were you guys i would just drive to red lodge and then ride into cooke. On one of the trips, go through the park or somethin, but i am VERY sick of the park but then again i drive through it a lot.
As for the road being closed? I had to wait 2 times this year. ONce was from a fallen tree and the other was a car got stuck in a snowdrift in the middle of the road and i pulled up out. The road is never closed.
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JHG
Well-known member
WOHOO G-TOWN! YEAH!
I drive through the park but its only 54 miles for me
If i were you guys i would just drive to red lodge and then ride into cooke. On one of the trips, go through the park or somethin, but i am VERY sick of the park but then again i drive through it a lot.
As for the road being closed? I had to wait 2 times this year. ONce was from a fallen tree and the other was a car got stuck in a snowdrift in the middle of the road and i pulled up out. The road is never closed.
I was going to ride from Red Lodge to cooke last year but was told by the ranger at the red lodge station that the road was closed and it would be a PITA to ride in the winter. Its the Beartooth pass we're talking about right?
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B C
Well-known member
The ride from Red Lodge isn't the thing you want to do w/ a bunch of gear strapped to you or your sled. And you better know where you are going, especially if a storm moves in. It gets better in the spring, but is a PITA early in the year. It really isn't that much further to drive all the way in. Then your trailer is in town, not 10 miles away; if you need something.
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yam_apex91469
Member
went to cooke in march. Left from Rockford, IL - took 27 hours with decent roads and a few stops for food/gas - averaged 80mph on the open road pullin 3 sleds - drove straight thru. Was our first time to cooke so we weren't going to try dropping at the parking area. We went around thru the park. Watch out for buffalo sleepin on the road. The drive thru the park is 60 miles or so at 30-50mph. Ridin was awesome - the drive blows
