Parking
From Cooke City, turn south onto Republic Road. At the fork about 0.1 mile in, take the left unpaved branch; the pullout is about 0.2 mile farther.
Overview
About Woody Falls Trail
Why go
- Three waterfall tiers in a short uphill outing near Cooke City.
Heads up
- The left-hand footpath is easy to miss; the jeep road continues toward a smaller cascade and old mine workings.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Beartooth Highway map
Full mapElevation7,566–8,465 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
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 Woody Falls Trail, 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 0.2 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Beartooth Highway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Soda Butte Campground
- Before the Highway: Bannock Trail
- Colter Campground
- Clarks Fork Picnic Area
- 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 Woody Falls Trail
A short climb to big fallsWoody Falls Trail is a forested out-and-back from the Republic Road pullout to a three-tier…
Woody Falls Trail is a forested out-and-back from the Republic Road pullout to a three-tier waterfall in steep canyon walls. Plan for about 2.7 miles round trip and 1½–2 hours. Published distance estimates range from 2.7 to 3 miles, and reported climbing runs from 875 to 925 feet. It is a moderate uphill walk; I’d pick it for a close canyon waterfall without making a whole day of the hike.
Take the left pathFrom Cooke City, head south on Republic Road. At the fork about 0.
From Cooke City, head south on Republic Road. At the fork about 0.1 mile in, take the left branch onto the unpaved road; the pullout is about 0.2 mile farther. Follow the jeep road, then take the well-defined path on the left about five minutes in. It parallels Woody Creek to the falls. If you keep going on the jeep road, you reach a smaller cascade and a spur toward Mohawk Mine.
At the fallsThe main cascade drops about 150 feet in three tiers through a steep-sided canyon.
The main cascade drops about 150 feet in three tiers through a steep-sided canyon. That waterfall is the payoff for the climb. The route directions do not identify a named viewpoint, so stay on the established path rather than looking for an off-trail approach.
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.
