Assuming the weather cooperates, the Beartooth Highway will fully open to travelers at 8 a.m. Friday.

The scenic high-mountain route — formally known as U.S. Highway 212 — runs from Red Lodge to Cooke City, Montana, providing access to Yellowstone National Park’s Northeast Entrance. 

A portion of the highway, from Cooke City to the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (Wyo. Highway 296), opened earlier this month. However, the stretch between that intersection and Red Lodge is always the last Yellowstone area route to open for the summer because of the massive amount of snow that piles up over the winter.

Crews from the Park Service have been working for weeks to clear the portion of the highway that runs through Wyoming, while the Montana Department of Transportation has been clearing the northern section in Montana.

Although the highway is expected to be ready for the Memorial Day weekend, “conditions can change quickly, especially during spring and fall, and roads can temporarily close due to poor driving conditions,” the Park Service warned said in a news release. “Plan to have alternate routes for travel should the highway close.”

Snow and cold temperatures persist in the Beartooth Mountains through the summer. There’s enough powder that a no-frills ski area that sits along the highway, Beartooth Basin, is able to operate into early July.

Both the Montana and Wyoming departments of transportation websites will offer updates on the road’s status through the summer.