#10 of 18 sights in Beartooth Highway
Sight · Beartooth Highway
A quick roadside look at the Beartooth Highway waterfall
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Beartooth Highway Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Beartooth Highway. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Beartooth Highway audio tourRecorded for this place
Beartooth Falls“You're nearing Beartooth Falls, where water from Beartooth Lake drops through a forested ravine beside the highway. This is a quick viewpoint stop: use the signed pullout facing the falls, and expect a distant view.”
Plays as you drive up to Beartooth Falls in the Parkwolf Beartooth Highway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Beartooth Falls is where the outlet from Beartooth Lake drops through a forested ravine beside US 212. It is a quick roadside stop on the Beartooth Highway, with the falls themselves as the reason to pull over.
A signed roadside pullout gives a view of the waterfall, though the cascade can seem far away. No public route to the base was verified, so plan on seeing it from the roadside rather than counting on a close walk.
At the Beartooth Ravine Bridge, one pullout faces the falls; the one beyond the crossing looks back into the ravine and includes the bridge. Use the falls view for the water, then the second for a photo that gives the ravine and bridge more scale.
Beartooth Highway usually opens around Memorial Day weekend and closes in mid-October, weather permitting. Treat the falls as one stop on a longer drive: the Forest Service says the full highway takes at least two to three hours to drive.
Wildlife
42 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
22 sightingsGray WolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
49 sightingsBisonMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
122 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
260 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
16 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Beartooth Highway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ModerateBeartooth Lakes Loop7.8 mi · 4 hr · 1.1 mi awayA six-lake loop over high ridges and wildflower meadows.
ModerateNative Lake Trail7.9 mi · 4 hr · 1.1 mi awayA high alpine lake reached after meadows and 1,300 feet of climbing.
ModerateBeauty Lake Trail #6214.6 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.1 mi awayA steady high-country climb leads to a reflective lake.
ModerateClay Butte Trail #6143 mi · 1.8 hr · 1.7 mi awayOpen meadow, high-country creeks and a junction with Trail #620.
ModerateGranite Lake Trail via Clay Butte10 mi · 6.5 hr · 1.7 mi awayA 10-mile out-and-back to a 228-acre high-country lake.
ChallengingHigh Beartooths Lakes Loop22 mi · 12 hr · 1.7 mi awayA full-day circuit linking alpine lakes above 8,700 feet.
ModerateIsland Lake to Beartooth Lake Trail5.5 mi · 3.5 hr · 3.2 mi awayFive alpine miles, ten lakes and a shuttle between trailheads.ModerateBeartooth High Lakes Trail8.9 mi · 5.5 hr · 3.3 mi awayNine miles of alpine lakes, granite benches and big plateau views
Sight · 0.8 mi awayBeartooth LakeLaunch, picnic, or take in Beartooth Butte across the lake.
Campground · 0.9 mi awayBeartooth Lake CampgroundA lakefront base for fishing, boating and nearby high-country hikes.
Sight · 1.1 mi awayClay Butte LookoutA historic fire tower with a 360-degree Beartooth panorama.
Scenic pullout · 1.7 mi awayPilot and Index Peaks OverlookTwo sharp peaks crown the Clark’s Fork valley view.
Store · 2.2 mi awayTop of the World Store and ResortA 9,400-foot store and lodge midway along the pass drive.Sight · 3.2 mi awayIsland LakeA high-country lake with boat access and hikes to nearby lakes.Campground · 3.3 mi awayIsland Lake CampgroundA simple high-country camp for lake views and nearby hikes.
Scenic pullout · 4.5 mi awayClarks Fork OverlookA roadside view where the valley's geology comes into focus.Parkwolf’s Beartooth Highway ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
