Winter in Cooke City

Activities in Winter

In the winter, the town is anything but quiet. It is bustling with snowmobilers, down hill skiers, snowboarders, and cross country skiers. There are roughly 60 miles of groomed trails in and around Cooke City.  They extend into the Beartooths' and the Absaroka Mountains.  The trails go in and out of Montana and Wyoming, so be sure to have a permit for both.  There is world class snowmobiling in town and it is virtually untapped compared to the busier areas of West Yellowstone and Island Park.

Cooke City gets a typical snow accumulation of 8 to 10 feet every winter. There is back country skiing for every level from professional riders to someone learning. The wilderness is also only open to skiing, so if you want a quieter day either downhill or cross-country, head out into the wilderness areas and enjoy a peaceful or epic day in the powder.

Cooke City has some of the best powder in Montana and if you don’t do any of that, you can’t beat that drive through snowy Yellowstone. It is truly breathtaking to see the Lamar in the winter.