Beartooth OHV Trails

The Beartooth Mountains OHV trail network in the Custer Gallatin National Forest covers the high-alpine terrain surrounding Red Lodge in Carbon County, Montana, the eastern gateway to the Beartooth Pass and Yellowstone National Park north entrance, at the northern edge of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. The designated OHV routes in the district wind through the subalpine and alpine terrain of the Beartooth Plateau's flanks at elevations from 5,600 feet at the Rock Creek valley floor to over 9,500 feet on the upper ridge routes approaching the Beartooth Plateau proper. The terrain is quintessential Northern Rockies high country: lodgepole pine and Douglas fir forest on the lower slopes transitioning to Engelmann spruce and subalpine fir at mid-elevation, then to the krummholz and alpine tundra of the Beartooth Plateau above treeline around 9,500 feet. The Beartooth Plateau itself is one of the largest contiguous areas of land above 10,000 feet in the lower 48 states, and while the plateau core is wilderness (and closed to motorized use), the flanking national forest routes give OHV riders access to the subalpine approach terrain with views across the Beartooths and toward the Absaroka Range to the south. ATVs, UTVs, and dirt bikes are permitted on designated routes; Montana OHV registration is required for all machines. Dispersed camping is available throughout the national forest under 14-night limits. The Beartooth Ranger District (406-446-2103) manages current trail status and posts seasonal gate schedules, the alpine access windows are genuinely short and snow can persist on north-facing routes into mid-July in heavy snowpack years.