Cooke City, MT

Tucked into a high valley beneath the Beartooth Mountains, Cooke City sits right at the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park. The town began as an 1870s gold mining camp named after a railroad investor whose trains never actually arrived. Today, it remains a wonderfully rugged mountain outpost surrounded by dramatic peaks, open country, and thick pine forests.

ATTRIldar Sagdejev ( Specious ) / CC BY-SA 4.0

Day-to-day life here revolves around the seasons and serious winter weather. In the summer, travelers pack the town along the scenic Beartooth Highway on their way into the park. Once the snow flies and the high mountain passes close to cars, the valley transforms into a quiet paradise for snowmobilers, backcountry skiers, and wolf watchers heading into the Lamar Valley. Together with neighboring Silver Gate, it is a tight-knit, self-reliant community perfect for anyone looking for true mountain solitude.