Cooke City is located in Park County on the Wyoming state line in south-central Montana next to Silver Gate on US 212.

It is a small community near the Colter Pass at the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park. The settlement was founded by gold miners in the early 1870s and at one time, the population reached 7000. The eastern access to the city, the Beartooth Scenic Highway, is usually only open May through September. The rest of the year, the town is accessible only from the west through Yellowstone.