Sheridan to Yellowstone: Routes and Stops

Sheridan, Wyoming

Sheridan is my favorite place to come home to. Sundays are quieter here, and some of the small businesses take the day off. If you are staying before the drive, check the hours of any restaurant or shop you particularly want to visit.

The Sheridan Inn is worth a visit before you leave town. Its association with Buffalo Bill is part of the town’s history, but you do not need a long itinerary to appreciate the building. We like stopping at the Buffalo Bill Bar and taking a walk downtown.

Eatons’ Ranch is at Wolf, outside Sheridan. The Eaton family moved the ranch from North Dakota to its present location in 1904. If a ranch stay interests you, make separate arrangements rather than treating it as an unplanned roadside stop. Eatons’ Ranch history.

For a road trip, the practical reason to stop in Sheridan is simple: you can have dinner downtown, sleep here, and start across the mountains in the morning. We would not use it as a base for repeated day trips into Yellowstone.

Highway 14 West — Into the Bighorns

The climb beyond Dayton is familiar to us from trips into the Bighorns, whether we are heading to Antelope Butte or spending a day in the mountains. On the way to Yellowstone, it is also the first stretch where you need to allow time for curves, changes in elevation, and weather.

Black Mountain Fire Lookout is a possible side trip if you want a hike rather than a pullout. Check current Forest Service access information before committing to the approach road, and allow extra time for the climb. We would not add it to a day that already includes a long museum visit in Cody.

Watch for moose along the timbered stretches and give any animal near the road room to move. Highway 14 and Highway 14A are different crossings; 14A has a seasonal closure on the western slope. Check WYDOT road conditions before choosing either road.

Burgess Junction

At Burgess Junction, Highway 14 and Highway 14A split. Bear Lodge is here, and the North Tongue River is nearby. Decide which crossing you are taking before continuing: Highway 14 leads through Shell Canyon, while 14A heads west toward Lovell.

We like the pie at Bear Lodge. If you want a break before the descent, check whether the restaurant is serving when you pass through.

Shell Canyon and Shell Falls

The change through Shell Canyon is striking: timber gives way to exposed rock as the road descends the west side of the Bighorns. We prefer to leave time for a stop here rather than trying to hold the same pace as the flatter sections of the drive.

Shell Falls is a straightforward stop along Highway 14 when the site is open. Check current Forest Service information if the visitor facilities are important to your plans.

Greybull & the High Prairie

Greybull is a useful place to stop for fuel or food. The Museum of Flight and Aerial Firefighting is another option if retired aircraft and the history of aerial firefighting interest you. Check its seasonal hours before adding it to your day.

East of Cody, the McCullough Peaks herd management area is home to wild horses. Sightings from the highway are not something to plan around. If seeing the herd matters to you, use the BLM map and access information and allow time for a separate outing.

Lamar Valley

The Northeast Entrance is my favorite way into Yellowstone in the warmer months. From Cooke City and Silver Gate, you enter the park and continue toward Lamar Valley. Allow time beyond the entrance itself; reaching the gate and reaching your wildlife-viewing spot are different parts of the drive.

The open valley makes it possible to watch animals at a distance with binoculars or a scope. Bison may be easy to find, but wolves and bears can take patience, and some visits bring no sightings.

My wife and I come for the wolves. We get up before dawn so we can have the spotting scope set up as the light comes in. We prefer winter, when the wolves can be easier to locate against snow and there are fewer people. Those winter trips come through Gardiner, not along the summer route described above.

The regular wolf watchers are part of what we enjoy. Some know individual animals and years of pack history. The first time someone let me look through their spotting scope, I could hardly believe what I was seeing. It is worth asking politely, and giving people space when they are watching or photographing.

Some mornings we wait for hours without much happening. On others, we watch wolves hunting, resting, or moving across the valley for a long stretch. Bring enough warm clothing to stand still comfortably; we spend much more time waiting than walking.

Gardiner, Montana

Gardiner is where we enter for winter visits to the northern park. The road from the North Entrance through Mammoth and on to Cooke City is generally open to regular vehicles year-round, subject to conditions. The road east of Cooke City closes in winter, so you cannot continue through to Chief Joseph.

Check NPS road status before departing. In winter, your overnight location and the drive back after wildlife watching matter just as much as the route into the park.

If you do not have a spotting scope, look into a rental before your visit. We recommend checking with Optics Yellowstone in Gardiner about availability and pickup arrangements. A scope makes distant wildlife much easier to observe without getting closer.