Notes: The routes will be updated with details and possibly changed before the ride. Also, the elevation profiles below use different scales; make sure to check the scale when judging climbs and comparing days. It’ll make you feel better. 

Day 0 – Saturday, June 17: Check-in, Columbus

Site: Columbus High School/Heritage Park (lodging listings)

The adventure begins in Columbus, a charming, sleepy town with an imposing courthouse and a welcoming attitude. The school and the city have come together to give us a great site to gather, renew acquaintances and get primed for a week of great riding.

Day 1 – Sunday, June 18: Columbus to Red Lodge – 55 miles, 3,975 feet of gain

Draft route map: (link)

Site: Red Lodge Civic Center/Doug Brown Field (lodging listings)

Start the week with some of the most pastoral, gently rising landscape you’ll see all week, as we roll out of Columbus toward the distant peaks. After an out-and-back side trip to Fishtail and its quaint park and historic store, you’re back on the highway again, passing vivid barns and fertile land. After Rest Stop 2 in Roscoe, get ready for the proverbial roller-coaster hills, featuring some oh-yeah descents. Then it’s a quick drop in picturesque into Red Lodge, nestled in the folds of the undulating terrain.

Day 2 – Monday, June 19: Red Lodge to Cooke City – 64 miles, 7,450 feet

Draft route map: (link)

Site: USFS Ballfield (Cooke City lodging listings) (Silver Gate lodging listings)

The Queen Stage comes early in this tour. If you’ve never seen Beartooth Pass – or even if you’ve ridden it before – it’s a singular treat you’ll never forget. The day starts with a mild climb out of Red Lodge, turning steeper about 10 miles in. From there you’ll settle in at a steady 6% grade – find your gear and rhythm, and spend your time soaking in the majestic views. Yes, it’s 30+ miles of steady climbing (well, there’s one false summit), but it is so worth it. When you’re at the top, you’re the ruler of all you survey – and the Top of the World store name ain’t kidding. Enjoy the reward of roughly 20 miles of downgrade, then call on your legs for one last ascent before cresting and entering Cooke City.

Day 3 – Tuesday, June 20: Cooke City Layover – No organized route today

Site: USFS Ballfield (Cooke City lodging listings) (Silver Gate lodging listings)

It’s not feasible to take 300 riders into Yellowstone, but you’ll have so many options on this day that you’ll certainly find something worthwhile. Guided Park tours led by naturalists, local hikes, horseback riding, fly fishing, or just a day resting those legs at the scenic base of Soda Butte or exploring Silver Gate – your choice.

Day 4 – Wednesday, June 21: Cooke City to Cody – 77 miles, 5,900 feet

Draft route map: (link)

Site: Park County Complex (lodging listings)

If Sunlight Basin and Chief Joseph Pass were never compared to Beartooth, this might be the best ride in the West. The scale of Montana and Wyoming becomes ludicrous as you pedal past giant buttes, alpine lakes and mountain streams. You’ll drop down to Wyoming’s highest bridge, far above a sharp-carved canyon stream, before setting out up the pass, which features a series of switchbacks that provide you with ever-better views back to the basin. At the top, stop to take a breath and soak in one of the biggest views you’ll ever see. Bomb down the other side, then cruise on into Cody.

Day 5 – Thursday, June 22: Wapiti Out-and-Back Layover Ride – 54 miles, 2,940 feet

Draft route map: (link)

Site: Park County Complex (lodging listings)

This is not your “whatever, it’s a layover ride” route – it has its own level of fun, scenery and awe-inspiring geology. Once you get out of town, enjoy an awesome bike path that hugs canyon walls and makes drivers wish they were you. Emerge at the Buffalo Bill Dam and start your ride along the shores of the – yes – Buffalo Bill Reservoir, alongside Buffalo Bill State Park. The farther west you go, the more stunning sights you’ll find around the next corner. You can mentally mark them for photo stops on the way back to town.

Day 6 – Friday, June 23: Cody to Belfry – 67 miles, 1,375 feet

Draft route map: (link)

Site: Belfry Schools (there is no lodging available in Belfry)

Ready for a contrast? Day 6 brings some entirely new surroundings. Start with a pleasant morning cruise to Powell’s cool city park. Once you leave town, you’ll eventually round a corner and realize that you’re pedaling through real-life badlands. It’s both jarring and stirring – the road stretches endlessly in the distance, with a mountain range as the only backstop. After a rest stop at the rustic Edelweiss Riverhouse, head north and back into Montana, following a sinuous path alongside Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone River into tiny Belfry.

Day 7 – Saturday, June 24: Belfry to Columbus – 55 miles, 1,670 feet

Draft route map: (link)

Site: Columbus High School/Heritage Park (lodging listings)

Just what you want after a week of sensory overload – a short, mostly flat path back to the start. We’ll connect the dots of small towns – Bridger, Fromberg, Joliet – before turning off onto one last hidden gem of a road. You only gain 400 feet from Joliet on a series of rollers, but you’ll end up on a ridge looking down on the main Yellowstone River drainage and Columbus below. Enjoy a stair-step descent and the end to a monumental week.