Wender·Vista
Soda Butte Cooke City
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileMontana
along the creek that runs into Yellowstone's northeast corner

Soda Butte Cooke City

— — the road out the back door of the park.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“Soda Butte Creek leaves the Beartooth high country, slips past the small town of Cooke City at the foot of the Absarokas, and runs west into Yellowstone past the old travertine cone that gives it its name. Cooke City sits at about 7,600 feet and gets its winter visitors mostly by snowmobile, since the road in from Red Lodge closes from October to May. In summer the creek braids through willow flats and the Lamar wolves work the valley downstream. — from the studio

from the studio
Soda Butte Cooke City
— bring it home

Soda Butte Cooke City, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Soda Butte Cooke City

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Cooke City sits at about 7,608 feet in Park County, Montana, just outside the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park and surrounded by the Absaroka and Beartooth ranges. Soda Butte Creek runs past the town and west into the park, where it joins the Lamar River near the old travertine cone called Soda Butte — an inactive hot-spring deposit that gives the creek its name. The town serves as a hub for the Beartooth Highway, U.S. 212, which climbs east over an 10,947-foot pass to Red Lodge and is closed from roughly mid-October through Memorial Day each year.

— the season

Cooke City lives two distinct years. From late May through September the Beartooth Highway is open and the town runs on Yellowstone day-trippers driving the loop between Mammoth and the northeast entrance. From mid-October the highway closes and the only road in is U.S. 212 west from Silver Gate through the park's north road. Winter visitors arrive by snowmobile and ski, and the town's small population — well under one hundred year-round — keeps a few cafés, motels, and an outfitter open through the snow months.

— informed by Wikipedia — Cooke City
— the water

Soda Butte Creek is a tributary of the Lamar River, holds Yellowstone cutthroat and rainbow trout, and runs clear through most of the season. The travertine cone called Soda Butte, six miles inside the park boundary, marks the lower end of the named valley; from there the creek joins the Lamar above Trout Lake. Wolves of the Lamar pack and its descendants have used the valley downstream since the 1995 reintroduction, and grizzly bears are seen along the creek in spring and again in the autumn cutthroat run.

— where
United States · Park County, Montana
— within
Yellowstone National Park
— elevation
2,318 m · 7,608 ft
— position
45.0200° N · 109.9300° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
4 km W
Silver Gate
small town
20 km W
Lamar Valley
valley
at the lake
Beartooth Highway
scenic highway
at the lake
Yellowstone National Park
national park
N
Soda Butte Cooke City
Silver Gate
Lamar Valley
Beartooth Highway
Yellowstone National Park
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Soda Butte Cooke City — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

At about 7,608 feet in Park County, just outside the northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park. The town sits along U.S. 212, the Beartooth Highway, between Silver Gate and the climb east toward Red Lodge.

A travertine cone inside Yellowstone's northeast corner, six miles from the park boundary, formed by an inactive thermal spring. It gives its name to Soda Butte Creek, which runs past Cooke City and into the Lamar River.

Roughly from Memorial Day weekend through mid-October, weather permitting. The highway crosses a 10,947-foot pass and closes each winter; the only winter road into Cooke City runs west through Yellowstone from Mammoth.

Yes, under Yellowstone National Park rules in the lower creek and Montana rules above the boundary. The stream holds Yellowstone cutthroat and rainbow trout, and the lower water joins the Lamar above Trout Lake.

Yes. The Lamar Valley, downstream of Soda Butte, has been a centre of wolf activity since the 1995 reintroduction. Wolves are most often seen at dawn or dusk in the open meadows below Soda Butte cone.

— about the piece in your home

It's been a meaningful gift for many customers who fish Soda Butte or who spend autumn weeks in Cooke City. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries the place well.

The high-country palette — willow, stone, sky — reads naturally in Mountain-modern rooms, lodge interiors, and Quiet-luxury studies where one piece of colour does the work on a wood-panelled or plaster wall.

A Large reads at the right scale above a standard sofa. A 4-tile Mural fills a wider wall, and a 9-tile Mural carries a long room. Above a console table the Medium is the usual call.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Either holds the colour cleanly in a backsplash, a shower surround, or a powder room, and resists steam and scratching in everyday use.

A soft microfibre cloth and water. No solvents, no abrasive pads. The colour lives in the ceramic surface, so the finish wipes clean and does not lift with normal household cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original to our studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, painted in our stained-glass and alcohol-ink language by Reid Wender and hand-finished in-house. Nothing is licensed in.

— if this one stayed with you

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