Mojave Road — Deception Valley Central Kalahari Desert Track via Matswere Gate and Sunday Pan

Charles Kuralt once called US-212 over the Beartooth Plateau ‘the most beautiful drive in America,’ and few who’ve driven it in July — snow cornices still hanging above the switchbacks, mountain goats watching from the talus — would argue. The route runs 68 miles from Red Lodge, Montana, over the Beartooth Pass summit at 10,947 feet, and down into Cooke City on Yellowstone’s northeast entrance road. The climb out of Red Lodge via the Rock Creek drainage is relentless — nineteen switchbacks on the Montana side before you hit the plateau proper, a wind-hammered moonscape of tundra, alpine lakes, and late-season snowfields. The Wyoming side descent drops through the Clarks Fork valley with views into the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness that genuinely stop traffic.

Officially a paved highway, the Beartooth earns its place in overland databases because it’s a legitimate gateway to some of the most serious backcountry in the Northern Rockies — and because it closes every winter and can receive fresh snow any month of the year, including July. Side roads off the plateau into Island Lake, Beartooth Lake, and the Clay Butte Lookout are gravel and require high clearance in wet conditions. The highway typically opens in late May and closes by mid-October; check WYDOT and MDT road conditions before departure. No permit required for the highway itself. Dispersed camping is available on Shoshone and Custer-Gallatin National Forest lands flanking the route — camp off designated pullouts and pack out everything.