Morrison Jeep Trail

The trail only partially open, on the north end only between waypoints 9-6. This is due to severe flooding damage in June 2022 that washed away the beginning of the trail and created some rock slides on the switchbacks. Visit the Forest Order here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/shoshone/alerts-notices/?cid=stelprdb5175892&width=full.

The upper northern section (about 13 miles of trails) is open but when it starts to drop down into the valley the forest service has closed the road. This is due to the heavy rains of 2022 that hit the region. The lower switchbacks have extensive damage and are actually gone in some places. There is a completely different trail on the south side of the valley where you can see the damage, real sad hope they get it opened back up.

Well, if you had any plans to come up the Morrison Jeep Trail this year I would cancel them. With all this moisture we had huge rock slides on 10 switchbacks. This is going to be a major fix and have been told it will not even be worked on this year and closed. The pictures do not do justice to the damage of the road.

Officially closed for the season!

Awesome day for sure. We left Cody at 7:15am, drove the full trail, went down the Beartooth Highway to the Chief Joseph Highway and was back in Cody by 3:15pm. I used exactly half a tank of gas in a 2018 JL. Trail was fairly quiet, I could see a few vehicles show up at the bottom of the switchbacks while looking down from the top.

Wow! This is an amazing trail! The switchbacks are certainly a bit of a challenge and extremely steep. Just focus on the road ahead rather than the edge. I made it up without using my lockers with no problem. Toyota's atrac system was really made for this trail. Being locked makes steering difficult, and these switchbacks are all about steering. Remember that there is A LOT MORE to this trail than the switchbacks!! A lot more. By the end of the trail in Montana at the Beartooth highway, the switchbacks were a distant memory, it almost felt like I had done them on a different day on a different trail.

definitely an awesome trail. as mentioned NO fullsize and NO newbies. definitely recommend at least a rear locker, but a front locker will also help with wheel spin on the loose toddler head sized rocks that will keep you struggling on the switchbacks. we had two very experienced people in two very well set up land cruisers running the trail and the switchbacks took almost two hours due to one of the landcruisers being close to fullsize (full in width, not in length). he said he would not take a 200 series up it again but was glad he did. the rock on the switchbacks appears to be gone as neither of us remember it. a couple of the switchbacks show runoff ruts being created that resulted in a very impressive (and dangerous) wheel stand in the 200. but don't think that once you're over the switchbacks you're done. you'll still climb a couple thousand more feet in elevation before going into tight trees with off camber turns and pigslop holes. you'll be paying attention the entire time which will wear you out by the end of the day and plan on a full day. we took about 7,5 hours from start to finish and with the exception of a 45 minute lunch break, we were pretty much non stop.

On a trip to the Bear Tooth mountains with my wife, daughter and 2 nephews we decided to hit up the Morrison Jeep trail. This was the first time I had done this trail and it's probably one of my favorites. It was July so there was no snow and the weather was great. After passing through the gate at the beginning of the trail you will find a 2 track that follows the Clark Fork river. Its pretty easy going just a lot of little rocks. We stopped along the Clark Fork river to cool off and have some lunch. Beautiful place to stop and enjoy the views. Bring a fishing pole if you like to fish. Continue along the 2 track until you get to the base of the mountain. The trail doesn't waste anytime and you almost immediately start climbing up the side of the mountain. The trail starts at about 4,500 ft and climbs to a little over 10,00 in no time and demands your full attention. There is somewhere around 27 switchbacks and they range anywhere from easy to multi-point off camber turns. In some places rocks have fallen on the trail so it can make it more challenging. Continue your way up the switchbacks and enjoy the views. Once you are at the top of the switch backs you will go through a raised cattle guard. Don't worry this is not the end of the trail. Following the trail is very easy as this is still used by ranchers in the area. Please make sure to leave the trail in better shape than you found it. The rest of the trail is pretty straight forward with a few small technical areas that includes medium boulders, creek crossings and mud holes depending on weather. The trail ends at a parking lot with a vault toilet and access to the Bear Tooth highway. Stop by the Top of the World gas station for gas and snacks. They let us use the showers to rinse off all the dirt :). We completed this trail in my 2011 JKUR Wrangler with a 2.5 lift and 35" tires. If you are planning on doing this trail be prepared for weather changes and bring enough food and water. It took us right around 6.5 hours for the actual trail, we spent about another hour or so playing in the river. Keep in mind that Cody is probably the last place to gas up before hitting the trail, Clark does not have a gas station so bring extra gas. We brought 5 gals and used it all. Enjoy!