Backpacking Beartooth High Lakes Trail

For our next overnight adventure we headed up over the Beartooth Pass to Beartooth High Lakes Trail. Since we were camping at the base of Beartooth Scenic Highway in Montana, we took the incredibly scenic drive up and over the Wyoming border. The drive on Beartooth Scenic Highway was one of the most beautiful scenic drives we’ve ever encountered! Usually it takes hiking miles to see such intensely beautiful high elevation scenery. But this highway reveals jaw dropping views from the seat of your car! We figured this was a great indicator of the beauty we were bound to see on Beartooth High Lakes Trail.

marsh among the granite on beartooth high lakes trail

Quick Info

Directions: From Red Lodge, Montana follow US-212 W for for about 38 miles. Then turn right onto Forest Road 148 towards Island Lake Campground and follow signs for trailhead parking.

Difficulty: Easy

Know Before You Go: Bring bug spray!

Distance: We started at Island Lake and took Beartooth High Lakes Trail (FT 620) for about 3.5 miles to the intersection with Beauty Lake Trail (FT 621). From the intersection we continued on for about 1 mile before setting up camp. Our route ended up being about 9 miles roundtrip.

Note: This area is extremely beautiful and there are numerous trails. Many of the trails can be added on to one another, turned into loops and lollipops as well as great shuttle hikes. We initially set off on a lollipop backpacking adventure but plans changed. Since we did not complete the entire lollipop I can’t advise from experience but I’ll point out one of the lollipop options in the area.

Suggested Route: From Island Lake Campground, pick up Beartooth High Lakes Trail (FT 620). Pass the intersection with Beauty Lake Trail (FT 621) and continue past several glacial lakes until you reach the intersection with FT 619. Turn left onto FT 619 until you reach Beartooth Lake. From Beartooth Lake turn left onto Beauty Lake Trail (FT 621) and follow it back to the intersection with Beartooth High Lakes Trail (FT 620). Take a right onto Beartooth High Lakes Trail and follow it back to the parking area at Island Lake Campground.

Our Experience Hiking Beartooth High Lakes Trail

On the way to the trailhead we got stuck in some construction traffic, but what an amazing road to be stuck in traffic on! The turn for the trailhead is called Island Lake Campground. We turned off here and followed signs toward the trailhead parking.

backpacking the alpine beartooth high lakes trail

As we were gearing up for the hike we were already being bombarded by mosquitoes. We didn’t think much of it, applied some extra repellant and hit the trail. Not far from the campground the trail crossed a stream, requiring some rock hopping.

The trail ran alongside the shoreline of beautiful Island Lake. This lake was pretty large with beautiful panoramic views all around. From the trail we could see the surrounding mountains and the granite Beartooth Plateau in the distant backdrop.

backpacking by island lake on beartooth high lakes trail

We followed the well traveled single track trail along the western shore of Island Lake. It was soft dirt and relatively level. The wildflowers were beautiful and surrounded the trail on both sides. They really added to the alpine scenery. After following the length of Island Lake the trail almost immediately bordered the beautiful Night Lake.

hiker and wildflowers on beartooth high lakes trail

We stopped for lunch and once again found ourselves constantly swatting at mosquitoes. When we were moving they didn’t seem as bad so we kept on. As we got to the next lake we noticed a huge, beautiful waterfall running down the far granite mountain wall. The scenery here was truly amazing with granite mountain tops and lakes all around.

All of a sudden the mostly level trail became an unexpectedly steep descent down into the woods to the Beartooth High Lakes and Beauty Lake Trail intersections. We took the trail to the right and followed Beartooth High Lakes Trail.

backpacker in the woods on beartooth high lakes trail

From the intersection we could actually see the large and very pretty Beauty Lake through the trees further up ahead. A little bit further through the woods brought us to the first of two wide river crossings. Shane took one (or two) for the team and carried me across so that only one of us had wet boots.

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From here the trail gradually climbs and winds through marshy areas and passes lots of ponds. Then there were several more small lakes.

stream with grass and granite surroundings

We followed the trail until it opened up a bit and got beyond the still waters. We found a nice place to set up camp, sheltered and at a distance from the nearby lakes.

Once we stopped hiking the mosquitoes were so bad that we set up our tent as fast as we could and dove inside for protection! It was insane. They were relentless, covering the walls of our screened tent just waiting for their opportunity.

But, we couldn’t just sit in our tent for the rest of the day staring out at all of the beautiful granite scenery surrounding us. So we figured as long as we kept moving and applied more repellent the mosquitoes would be more tolerable. We set out to explore the absolutely stunning area.

dramatic granite beartooth mountains bordering lake

The mix of lakes, green grass, granite rocks and peaks was beyond beautiful! The area looked like a playground that we could spend weeks just scrambling on rocks, swimming in lakes, bagging peaks and even throwing snowballs!

After our little adventure, we headed back to camp and ate dinner, played cards and enjoyed the scenery from behind the protection of our tents mesh walls.

We had planned on hiking further and staying another night so that we could experience more of this breathtaking area. But the next morning we decided to head back instead of spending another day fighting the mosquitoes.

On our hike back we got to see a few adorable marmots! We also encountered 20+ people hiking in. Although we hadn’t seen any others past the Beauty Lake intersection during our stay it seems as though this area may get busy on weekends. This is a nice and easy hike with big scenic rewards.

marmot and hiker near lake on beartooth high lakes trail

Overall this was an extremely beautiful area! The mosquitoes were almost intolerable which really took away from any relaxation. There are a lot of lakes and peaks to explore in this area. And the scenery is seriously impressive.

Thanks for your support!

Thank you for reading about the adventures of The Lost Longboarder! If you’d like to read about more of our adventures in the area, check out the articles below:

To sustain our on the road lifestyle we create hand painted one of a kind longboards. You can check them out at our Lost Coast Longboarding shop! We also design and screen print our own shirts.