After taking a rest day following a long 15 mile outing to Black Canyon Lake in the Beartooth Mountains, I was looking for a more mellow hike. With afternoon storms in the forecast, I didn’t want anything too long, plus I was trying to rest a sprained ankle. What I decided on was a relatively moderate hike to Quinnebaugh Meadows.
While Alltrails reported this hike as a moderate 12 miles, I ended up clocking over 15! This ended up being a bit more of an adventure than I initially bargained for, and I didn’t quite beat the storms either! Despite that, this was an awesome hike and a memorable day on trail!
Miles/Elevation:
15.4 miles
1,985 feet vertical gain
About Custer National Forest:
Primarily located in southern Montana, Custer National Forest encompasses nearly 1.3 million acres of wild land. While most of the forest’s land can be found in south-central Montana, the forest does contain exclaves in south eastern Montana and South Dakota.
Jointly run with Gallatin National Forest as Custer-Gallatin, the combined area of the two exceeds 3 million acres. The forests include numerous wilderness areas that encompass hills, highlands, and high mountain ranges, perhaps most notably the Beartooths along the Montana-Wyoming border.
There are numerous campsites located throughout Custer-Gallatin National Forest, both dispersed and organized. Most use areas do not require fees.
Getting To The Trailhead:
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors!
From Red Lodge Montana, about 10 miles north of the Wyoming border along highway 212, turn onto W Fork Road, and then immediately stay left to continue on W Fork Road. You’ll encounter a number of intersections on W Fork Road, but always just stay on W Fork.
The road is paved for a few miles, but the final 7 or so miles are gravel. I made it pretty easily in my S2000, so any low clearance car should be just fine. There are a few potholes and sections of washboard, but it’s really not bad at all.
From the intersection with 212, continue for about 13 miles. Eventually, you will arrive at the end of the road and the West Fork Rock Creek Trailhead. You can’t miss it, if you do you’ll be driving into the woods!
There is no fee to park at the trailhead, and it can be found on Google Maps as the West Fork Rock Creek Trailhead.
The Quinnebaugh Meadows Trail:
Through the Burnt Scar to Sentinel Falls:
Driving to the trailhead, you’ll have noticed the burned forest filling this valley. A fire burned through here a bit over a decade ago, and the forest is still recovering. The trail begins by hiking through the far end of this burn scar for the first couple of miles.
Most of this trail is pretty flat and relatively easy. Over the first 5 miles, you’ll only be climbing about 1000 feet, so honestly it’s pretty manageable for even casual hikers. The trail is also pretty easy to navigate through here. It’s a nice dirt single track for the most part with very few intersections, though you will have to hop over some rocks from time to time.
This is grizzly country so make sure you are bear safe!
Views here are consistently solid through this first part of the hike. You’ll have more or less constant nice views for pretty much the entire hike, and that rings true for the first couple of miles as well. The valley walls and ridges atop them are quite dramatic, and the views looking up are really nice!
After a couple of miles, you’ll start hearing the roar of water. This means you are approaching Sentinel Falls, almost exactly 2 miles into the trail. Sentinel Falls isn’t an especially vertical waterfall, but it does create a beautiful, cascading, waterfall down the valley!
To the Meadows:
Above Sentinel Falls, the terrain changes dramatically. The burn scar ends, and you very quickly enter green, lush, forest. Here, above the falls, the creek widens almost to a river, and while there aren’t a ton of easy approaches to the water’s edge, you can definitely find places to swim or get water if you like!
Always follow basic trail etiquette when on trail!
You’ll start to notice meadows in this area that the hike is known for. You are not yet at Quinnebaugh Meadows, but across the creek you’ll have nice views of open, green, meadows!
Before long, you’ll again hear the sound of rushing water which signals the approach of the second waterfall of the day. This one also is not super vertical and is more of a cascade down, but it again signals your continued progress!
Above the second falls, the terrain opens up a bit and flattens out, leading you towards the meadows themselves. Here the creek slows and widens, and provides beautiful views towards the peaks above and beyond. You also may notice shades of bright blue in the water, hinting at what’s to come!
Eventually, the trail reaches the end of the valley and turns south, entering the Quinnebaugh Meadows themselves. Here, wide open meadows framed by pine forests lie beneath rugged stone peaks. The Quinnebaugh Meadows are pretty gigantic, so there are lots of places to hang out in relative solitude. However, for the absolute best views of the valley, continue back into the woods a bit farther up the trail!
Beyond the main meadows, the trail reenters the forest and the main meadow ends. About a mile or mile and a half later, you will re-emerge at another, smaller, set of meadows. This was by far my favorite part of the hike, and one of the most beautiful places I’ve been!
Make sure you visit Glacier National Park if you are visiting Montana!
The water changes to a bright, brilliant blue, and bright green grass grows right up to the water’s edge. All of this lies beneath a beautiful line of rugged mountains, the backside of Silver Run Peak. This is definitely a special place, and would make a great place to relax and have a snack, but for me, it wasn’t my final destination!
The Upper Trail:
From the upper meadows, you can either continue on, or turn back towards the trailhead. Since the Alltrails page is called Quinnebaugh Meadows and Sundance Lake, I elected to continue on towards the lake, but full disclosure, if I were you, I wouldn’t.
The trail quickly reenters the forest and begins climbing. You’ll have about 500 feet of climbing ahead of you if you want to make it to the lake. After climbing, entering and leaving yet another meadow, and hiking through some more forest, I realized I was near where the lake should be. I then checked my map and realized I had actually passed it.
I backtracked a bit, and then the realization hit me, I was actually a couple hundred feet above Sundance Lake. The lake itself is really small, much smaller than what I was expecting, so it’s really easy to miss as you pass by far above. The trail also does not reach the lake, or even get anywhere close, making it even easier to miss. I actually don’t think you can ever see the water from the trail. My only glimpse was from atop a boulder a few yards off the trail!
You could climb all the way down off-trail to the water, but I didn’t really feel like it, and the lake didn’t look all that impressive, so I decided to turn around!
Hiking Out:
Part of the reason I turned around without making it to the lake was that it didn’t look all that impressive, but the other reason was that dark clouds were rolling in quick. Around me, the sky was turning dark, and while I hadn’t heard thunder yet, my mountain senses told me it was time to go!
I set off back down towards the meadows at a pretty quick clip. I hadn’t yet actually taken any food breaks, so I was pretty hungry by this point. But rather than sitting down for a long snack break considering the storm on my tail, I grabbed a couple things from my pack and ate them on the move!
As soon as I made it back down to the upper meadows, the sounds of thunder began rolling down the valley. Directly above me, the sky still looked ok, but angry clouds were occupying more and more of the sky, and more and more of my thoughts!
I continued back downhill towards the trailhead at a pretty fast pace, definitely not what I had hoped for when planning my easy day on the trail! Once I made it back to the second waterfall, within just a couple miles of the trailhead, the clouds let loose!
While there was no lightning in my immediate vicinity, and the sounds of thunder were still coming in from far off, the rain began coming down! It was light at first, but before long, it was coming down good!
I quickly stopped under a thick stand of trees and packed away all my electronics. Stupidly, even though rain was in the forecast for the afternoon, I had neglected to bring my rain jacket, so my only option was to get out as quickly as possible!
I was basically hiking straight down the valley back towards the trailhead at this point, and I could watch and see the rain clouds coming in and following in the exact same direction: over the far ridgeline behind me and then directly down the valley. The exact way I was going!
I 100% expected the rain to get worse, or at least continue for the remainder of the hike back to my car, but miraculously, after less than 20 minutes since the first sprinkle, it stopped! I honestly have no idea how I didn’t get absolutely soaked, but as quick as it had started, the rain totally cleared out! Once glance back was at dark clouds, and then the next was at blue sky!
I honestly still can’t believe how quickly the weather changed, but it definitely rings true that the weather can change in an instant in the mountains! I’ll take it as a lesson to bring rain gear when rain is in the forecast next time, even though I got away dry here!
Soon, I was back in the burn scar, and then back at the trailhead, still dry, but ready to head out. This was a really good hike that I enjoyed for pretty much all of. I was rushed, got rained on, and ran from storms, but the consistently awesome views and the ease of the hiking made for a really enjoyable day on the trail! While Sundance Lake was a disappointment, the rest of this hike more than makes up for it! With fresh legs and time to savor it, this would be a classic!
Topdown Lifestyle Rating: 9/10
This is a consistently awesome hike that offers excellent views and good trail conditions from start to finish. From the get go, the views are very good, and they get better as you hike up the valley. This hike is definitely not a 10/10 because there isn’t any true wow moment, and at the end of the day, it’s not as memorable as some of the great hikes of the country, but the consistently excellent views make this trail worthy of a 9/10.
I would also recommend turning around at the upper meadows as opposed to continuing onto Sundance Lake. It just isn’t worth the effort, though perhaps it would be if you actually put the work in to make it down to the water’s edge!
Overall, this is an excellent hike that is one of the highlights of the Beartooths, and there’s lots of ways to extend it to reach even more beautiful places! Quinnebaugh Meadows should definitely be on your list of hikes to do, and if you found a worthy end destination beyond, this could be an all-timer!
Pros:
- Incredible views throughout hike
- Nice trail throughout
- Tons of opportunities to extend your day
Cons:
- Burnt forest at the start
- No true final destination
- No wow moments
Alternative Hikes:
When to Hike to Quinnebaugh Meadows:
This trail will take you over 9,000 feet in a northern state, so the biggest factor to consider is snow. There will likely be snow here until well into May, and probably into June. Peak hiking season in Montana is July and August, but you should be able to hike to Quinnebaugh Meadows from June to September or October.
I generally prefer hiking early in the season, but all I can say is the best time to hike this loop is once the snow has melted. Whether that’s May or June is impossible to say. Keep an eye on the conditions, or just wait until late June and you should be good pretty much any year! Although, the fall colors here would be awesome!
Links For Further Reading:
Quinnebaugh Meadows and Sundance Lake via West Fork of Rock Creek Trail – Montana | AllTrails
