Cooke City / Silver Gate
An Over the Top Day Trip
No summertime visit to the Yellowstone area is complete without a drive over the Beartooth Highway and a stop in the bustling, historic towns of Cooke City and Silver Gate. Though we often think of them as a single destination, they actually got their start in very different ways. The towns boast that they have a year-round population of about 100 people and 300 people in the summer. Today, both towns still offer a hearty dose of that rugged frontier character, complete with that warm hospitality and service that ensures no visit is ever your last.
Whether your stop includes burgers or steaks, coffee or another kind of brew, you can’t go wrong up here. (It must be something about the altitude — everything just tastes better when you’re almost a mile and a half high.)
On your next ski trip, plan a few extra days and head up (via Gardiner, MT) for the legendary Sweet Corn Festival in April, a backcountry ski and snowboard weekend named after that particular gritty feel the snow takes on in late winter (or is it early spring?). We promise, you won’t forget it. Or if sleds are your thing, rent snowmobiles right in Cooke and hit the 60 miles of groomed trails, like unforgettable Daisy Pass at 10,000’ where you’re greeted with unparalleled views into Yellowstone and across the Beartooths. Snowmobiling around Cooke City runs from November through May and even June, some years, so make your plans now.
And if you are visiting in the summer, there’s no end of adventure waiting for you. Bordered by three National Forests — Shoshone, Custer and Gallatin — and literally more lakes, rivers and scenic vistas than you can shake a stick at, all you need is your sense of adventure and a sturdy pair of boots, and solitude is yours within minutes of leaving the pavement. Whether you’re up for fishing, hiking, biking, boating, horseback riding, camping or just lazing, ask around in town for the destination that’ll best suit your time and interest, pick up maps and supplies and head out into the wild. Because as spectacular as the Top of the World is from a car, it’ll take your breath away when all you can hear is the rush of water in the creek and the breeze through the pines.
Cooke City
Prospectors found gold in 1870, and by 1883 the quickly booming town laid claim to more than 230 people who were able to keep the two smelters, two sawmills, three general stores, two hotels, two livery stables and a local meat market busy. At one point, Cooke City was said to have as many as a thousand inhabitants.
But what was the big draw? The mountains surrounding Cooke are exceptionally rich in mineral deposits: Stories of gold, silver, lead, copper and zinc drew adventurers from far and wide to this remote corner of Montana. But shipping the ore was always a problem, often costing more than the value of the ore itself. Until the completion of the Beartooth Highway, the nearest railhead was north of Gardiner, Montana which required travel through Yellowstone National Park.
It was probably this talk of gold that piqued railroad financier Jay Cooke’s interest in building a railroad to the area. He pushed for a bill that would open up access to the northern edge of the Park, but Congress wouldn’t budge. When that attempt failed, Cooke turned his attention toward making the proposed Red Lodge-Cooke City route a reality. Many of the silver mines went bust in the early ‘30s when silver values dropped, but several of the original gold mines remained in fitful production through the 1990s.
Silver Gate
The town of Silver Gate is just three miles beyond Cooke, but its roots weren’t originally set in mining. Legend has it that in the fall of 1931, a man named John L. Taylor was headed for work in the Beartooth Highway construction camps when he ran into a character named Horace S. Double who owned 160 acres of land just outside the newly established National Park. Taylor bought the land from Double, with the plan of establishing a city that would cater to tourists on their way to Yellowstone.
The town was named Silver “because of the silver haze which seemed to shine over the mountains” and Gate because it was to be a gate to Yellowstone Park, according to a story recorded by Taylor’s daughter. It was to be a “rustic, western town to serve the tourist trade and to provide building sites for summer recreationists.” Original covenants included regulations on setbacks, signs, and building standards requiring log construction.
So when you’re booking your trip, plan a few extra days for Cooke City and Silver Gate. Because year-round, they keep the Welcome Mat out for those of us in need of some high-country adventure.
