MontanaHikes.com
The Stillwater River trail provides great hiking into the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness. While the trail leads to amazing riches for backpackers, there is a very popular day hike to Sioux Charley Lake. It’s a 3-mile hike on a good trail that climbs gradually for the entire distance. The trail includes a narrow gorge with raging whitewater, great mountain views, and a stream that becomes a wide, flat lake.
Blue Lake is the most popular hiking destination in the Crazy Mountains for good reason. Sitting at 8,282 ft in a valley between Granite Peak and Crazy Peak, Blue lake is connected to the larger Granite Lake and the smaller Thunder Lake. The hike to Blue Lake is less than 4 miles on good trails with an elevation gain of about 2,200 ft.
There are many public campgrounds along the Beartooth Highway. Which one is best for you will depend on a number of factors. To help you choose we’ve prepared this guide to the public campgrounds along the route. There is a page of additional information about each of these campgrounds – just click on the campground name to learn more
Beartooth Lake is a spectacular high-mountain lake located along the famous Beartooth Highway (U.S. Hwy 212). The lake is a popular destination that offers fishing, boating, camping, hiking, and backpacking in a pristine alpine setting. Beartooth Lake is immediately adjacent to Hwy 212 which is both good and bad because it makes access very easy but it also promotes heavy use.
Island Lake is a beautiful high-mountain lake on the Beartooth Plateau in Wyoming. It’s easily accessed from the Beartooth Highway (US 212) and is just a few miles west of the Beartooth Pass. Sitting at 9,518′ elevation, Island Lake covers 146 acres to a maximum depth of about 100ft. Island Lake is a very popular recreation area with a US Forest Service campground, a boat ramp and beach area, and a trailhead that is popular with hikers and backpackers.
The Greenough Lake Campground sits in the trees alongside Rock Creek 12 miles SW of Red Lodge, MT. It’s less than a mile from the famous Beartooth Highway and is great as a destination or for highway travelers.
The Lily Lake camping area is a partially developed campground at 7,670 ft on the shore of Lily Lake. Although it is officially classified as dispersed camping, Lily Lake has 5 sites with picnic tables, three shared steel bear-proof food boxes, and a vault toilet. There is no water and no steel fire rings.
The Lake Creek Campground is located on the Chief Joseph Highway (WY 296) about a mile south of the junction with the Beartooth Highway (US 212). This small campground features 6 forested sites and is administered by the Clark’s Fork Ranger District of the Shoshone National Forest.
At the Missouri Headwaters State Park three great rivers; the Madison, the Jefferson, and the Gallatin join to form the Missouri River. The Missouri flows 2,341 miles downstream until it joins the Mississippi River and ultimately reaches the ocean in New Orleans. In 1805 the Lewis & Clark expedition became the first known European explorers to reach the area. They traveled up the Missouri and named the three rivers they found coming together here.
The Yellowstone River is one of our nation’s most remarkable treasures. It’s the last major free-flowing river in the lower 48 states, traveling 680 dam-free miles. The Yellowstone River begins as a melting snowbank on Yount’s Peak deep in the Wyoming wilderness south of Yellowstone Park. From here it runs north then east until it joins the Missouri River in North Dakota.