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Voykit pocket guide · United States
Cooke City
Cooke City-Silver Gate
Go for 1–2 nights as a quiet Yellowstone northeast gateway: sleep here, drive the Beartooth Highway, skip it if you want services or winter road access.
Cooke City is a 140-person former mining town at the northeast entrance to Yellowstone, at the west end of US-212, the Beartooth Highway. There is no airport and no bus: you need a car. It works as a base for the Lamar Valley and the Beartooth, not as a destination on its own. Two nights covers the park's northeast corner and the pass; one night is enough if you are only passing through.
- Country
- United States
- Local name
- Cooke City-Silver Gate
- Best months
- Jun–Sep (Beartooth Highway usually open mid-May to mid-Oct, weather permitting)
- Avoid
- Nov–Apr for road access (US-212 east closed in winter); Jul–Aug for crowds and full lodges
- Stay
- 1–2 nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- USD
- Money
- Currency is the US dollar (USD, $). Cards and phone payments work almost everywhere; carry a little cash for tips and small vendors.
- Daily spend
- Budget $90–140 excl. bed · Mid $150–230 excl. bed · High $250+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile cover the country; prepaid SIMs at their stores and Walmart/Target (passport required), or an eSIM before you fly.
- Emergency
- Police, fire, ambulance 911
- Plugs
- Types A, B · 120 V · 60 Hz · Chargers are dual-voltage; hair dryers and straighteners from 230 V countries need a converter.
- Tipping
- Sit-down restaurant: 18–22% of the pre-tax bill.; Bar: US$1–2 per drink or 20% of the tab.; Taxi / ride-hailing: 15–20%, in the app.; Hotel housekeeping: US$3–5 a night.; Porter / valet: US$2–5 per bag or car.; Tour guide: US$10–20 per person for a day tour.; Counter service / tablet prompts: Optional; 0–15%.
- Water
- Tap water is drinkable nearly everywhere; boil or treat water from streams in parks.
- Toilets
- Free public toilets are scarce in big cities; use cafés, department stores, libraries, stations. Rest areas on highways are free.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Coffee and a bakery item | $6–12 |
| Breakfast at a café | $10–18 |
| Burger or sandwich with a side | $15–25 |
| Dinner main (steak, trout) | $25–45 |
| Draught beer at the saloon | $6–9 |
| Motel or cabin room, summer | $120–320 |
| Fuel, per gallon | $3.50–4.50 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- BIL · Billings Logan International
- The nearest larger airport; about 3.5–4 h by car via Red Lodge and the Beartooth Highway when open, longer via Livingston when it is closed.
- BZN · Bozeman Yellowstone International
- About 3–3.5 h via Livingston and Gardiner; the usual choice for the park's north side.
- COD · Yellowstone Regional (Cody)
- About 3–3.5 h via the park's east entrance when open.
Typical fares
- Yellowstone entry, private vehicle, 7 days
- about $35
- Cooke City → park northeast entrance
- about 4 miles, 10 min by car
- Cooke City → Red Lodge over Beartooth Pass
- about 60 miles, 1.5–2 h when open
Show 7 more sections and the pocket cardHideGet around, See and do, Sleep, Phrase card, Etiquette, safety and scams, One and two days, Sources, Pocket card
Get around
On foot in town; a car for everything else. There is no public transport, no shuttle and no taxi. Fuel up in Cooke City before heading into the park — the next services are far in any direction.
See and do
Known for
- Northeast entrance to Yellowstone
- Beartooth Highway (US-212)
- Lamar Valley wildlife
- Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness
- Winter snowmobiling
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Lamar Valley (Yellowstone) | Drive US-212 east through the northeast entrance, then the park road | About 30–45 min to the valley |
| Beartooth Highway / Beartooth Pass | Drive US-212 east and climb toward Red Lodge | Full day to Red Lodge and back |
| Red Lodge | US-212 east over the pass | About 1.5–2 h when the pass is open |
| Gardiner and Mammoth Hot Springs | Drive through the park via Tower Junction | About 2–2.5 h |
| Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness trailheads | Short drive from town, then on foot | Minutes to the trailhead |
Sleep
- Cooke City Main Street
- Motels, cabins and the saloon within a few minutes' walk; the whole town is walkable.
- Silver Gate
- About 2 miles east toward the park entrance; quieter, cabin-style lodging, still a short drive from Cooke City.
- Forest Service campgrounds
- Colter and Soda Butte sit along US-212 between town and the park entrance; first-come in season, no hookups.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Where is the nearest gas station? | Where is the nearest gas station? |
| Is the pass open? | Is the pass open? |
| Do you have a room for tonight? | Do you have a room for tonight? |
| How far to the park entrance? | How far to the park entrance? |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake and 'hi, how are you?' — reply 'good, thanks'; avoid: Treating the question as a real health enquiry
- Restaurants: Tip 18–22% and wait for the check; avoid: Leaving without tipping
- Personal space: Keep an arm's length in queues; avoid: Standing close to strangers
- Politics and religion: Listen more than you speak; avoid: Opening with hot-button topics
- Smoking: Smoke only in marked areas; avoid: Smoking near doors or in parks where banned
Scams and watch-outs
- US-212 east over Beartooth Pass is usually closed mid-October to mid-May; check road status before you commit to that route.
- Cell service is patchy to absent outside town; download maps and park info before you drive.
- Wildlife rules in the park area: stay at least 100 m from bears and wolves and 25 m from other animals, and never feed them.
- Weather turns fast at 2,000 m+; a warm morning can become cold rain or snow by afternoon.
- Winter travel means avalanche awareness; check the Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center before going out.
- Lock your car and keep valuables out of sight at trailheads.
Low crime, high terrain risk. The real dangers are wildlife, fast weather changes, altitude and winter roads — not people.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Cooke City yet. Suggested stay: 1–2 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Northeast entrance to Yellowstone
- Beartooth Highway (US-212)
- Lamar Valley wildlife
- Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness
- Winter snowmobiling
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- USDA Forest Service — Colter Campground: www.fs.usda.gov/r01/custergallatin/recreation/colter-campground
- USDA Forest Service — Soda Butte Campground: www.fs.usda.gov/r01/custergallatin/recreation/soda-butte-campground
- Gallatin National Forest Avalanche Center: www.mtavalanche.com/
- Wikivoyage: Cooke City, revision 5321641 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5321641
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Cooke CityCooke City-Silver Gate
To this address, please
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
- Police, fire, ambulance911
No consulates in Cooke City. Nearest consular offices are in Denver; embassies in Washington, DC.
Cell coverage is unreliable outside town. Save offline maps and the park's wildlife rules before you drive.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/cooke-city). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.