Around Yellowstone - Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks - page 273

August is the best month to hike the Beartooths. Snow remains in many places above
tree line at least until the end of July and starts to accumulate again after mid-September.
Localized afternoon thunderstorms, with hail, are common in the Beartooths during June
(the wettest month) and July. During early summer, you'll also need lots of bug repellent
and waterproof shoes to cope with swampy trails. Don't be put off; just be forewarned.
With proper preparation, the plateau offers some of Greater Yellowstone's very best hik-
ing.
From Island Lake Campground you can take a wonderful and easy hour-long stroll
along the Beartooth High Lakes Trail (trail 620) to Island Lake and beyond to Night
Lake and Flake Lake. All lakes are popular fishing areas. If you can arrange a shuttle,
continue downhill to Beauty Lake and then left (south) to Beartooth Lake for a fine half-
day hike.
From Beartooth Lake Campground you can make a wonderful half-day 8-mile loop via
Beauty Lake . Head up Beartooth Creek (trail 619) and then bear right, passing five
lakes, including Claw Lake (trail 620), to the junction with the Beartooth High Lakes
Trail. From here descend right past Beauty Lake (trail No 621) back to Beartooth Lake.
Parking is limited at the trailhead.
A longer, preferably overnight, option is the 11-mile Beartooth National Recreation
Trail (trail 613) loop hike accessed from the highway at Gardner Lake. The trail drops
from the lake and loops around Tibbs Butte, initially along Little Rock Creek, past
turnoffs to Deep Lake, Camp Sawtooth and Dollar Lake to arrive at Stockade Lake, a fine
campsite. From here, continue around the loop past Losecamp Lake back to Gardner
Lake, or cut east from Losecamp Lake for 3 miles past Hauser Lake to the Beartooth Hwy
by a pullout overlooking Long Lake (this requires a shuttle).
Another easy day hike is the 6-mile return ramble to Rock Island Lake , which begins
from the Clarks Fork Trailhead, about 4 miles east of Cooke City and across from the
Chief Joseph Campground. After about 15 minutes be careful to continue along Russell
Creek Trail (trail 567) and not turn left along Broadwater Trail. The trail brushes Kersey
Lake and branches right up to Rock Island Lake. An alternative hike branches right 1.3
miles from the trailhead up to Vernon Lake (trail 565).
The Clarks Fork Trailhead is also the start of the exciting multiday Beartooth Traverse
that runs along Russell Creek Trail to Fossil Lake and then across plateau trail 15 to Rose-
bud Lake (shuttle required). You need to be fairly experienced for this remote wilderness
trek.
The contoured 1:100,000 Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness map by Beartooth Publishing
and the USFS 1:63,360 Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness map are both excellent. Hiking