Parking
The mapped trail start meets Miller Creek Road near Cooke City. No dedicated lot or roadside parking rules were verified; confirm current road access and legal parking before leaving a vehicle.
Overview
About Sheep Creek Basin Trail #576
Why go
- A defined numbered trail reaches the high-country basin.
- Mountain views along the route.
Heads up
- The mapped 2.72-mile line makes about a 5.44-mile return outing.
- Parking, water and pet details are poorly documented.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Beartooth Highway map
Full mapElevation8,314–9,177 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
1 active Beartooth Highway alert
- ClosureBeartooth Highway seasonal closure and falling-rock advisoryBeartooth Highway (US-212) is closed for the season between Cooke City and Red Lodge; do not plan to travel the highway as a through route.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Beartooth Highway Tour Guide
Your drive to Sheep Creek Basin Trail #576, narrated.
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 area
Cooke City: Museum and Historic Store0:00 / 0:32
“You're approaching Cooke City, a useful stop for supplies and a little mining-town history. I'd allow half an hour for the small museum, where touchscreens and artifacts cover local life, mining and the highway.”
Plays on the road 0.7 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Beartooth Highway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Before the Highway: Bannock Trail
- Soda Butte Campground
- Colter Campground
- Turning Smoke into a Map Location
- 62 audio storiesacross Beartooth Highway’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Grizzly Bear, Gray Wolf, Bison, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 82 trails, 36 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Sheep Creek Basin Trail #576
Route and turnaroundThis is a 5.44-mile out-and-back on Sheep Creek Basin Trail 576. The mapped corridor runs 2.
This is a 5.44-mile out-and-back on Sheep Creek Basin Trail #576. The mapped corridor runs 2.72 miles one way from Miller Creek Road into the basin; no second vehicle access was verified, so plan to retrace it. The one-way route gains roughly 970 feet and reaches about 9,100 feet. Allow around 3.5 hours with a short stop.
Climb and treadThe first 0.3 mile is the steepest mapped section; most of the remaining line is gentler.
The first 0.3 mile is the steepest mapped section; most of the remaining line is gentler. The route is recorded as natural surface, but detailed footing, shade and seasonal trail conditions were not found. Starting above 8,000 feet adds to the effort, so pace yourself and bring enough water for the full return.
Access and planningThe mapped start meets Miller Creek Road near Cooke City.
The mapped start meets Miller Creek Road near Cooke City. No formal lot or roadside parking rules were verified; confirm road access and legal parking before leaving your vehicle. Route-specific pet rules, water and facilities were not confirmed.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Beartooth Highway
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.
