If you go on the Bearthtooth Highway

DRIVING TIME: Plan on at least three hours of driving time between Cooke City and Red Lodge, Mont.

FOR THE CAMERA-CRAZED: Reach the Clay Butte Lookout via a three-mile spur road. You will see Granite Peak to the northwest, the North Absaroka Wilderness and Yellowstone National Park to the west, Clarks Fork Valley to the southwest and the Bighorn Mountains to the east.

CAMPING: Beartooth Lake Campground at the base of Beartooth Butte and Island Lake Campground offer excellent fishing, boating and hiking.

INFORMATION: U.S. Forest Service, Beartooth Ranger District, 406-446-2103. For road closings due to snowfall or mudslides, www.mdt.mt.gov/travinfo/beartooth. National Scenic Byways Program, www.byways.org.

SIDE TRIP: Chief Joseph Scenic Highway intersects with the Beartooth Highway near Lake Creek Falls (47 miles).