After a couple of weeks hiking throughout Colorado, I finally made my way to Montana near the end of July 2021. My first stop was a small town called Rod Lodge in southern Montana. I was here to hike the Beartooth Mountains, and on this day, Timberline Lake.
The Beartooths are a relatively unknown range just to the north of Yellowstone National Park, primarily in the state of Montana. You won’t find much for infrastructure here though. Compared to the hiking and skiing meccas of Colorado and California, Red Lodge and the Beartooths at large are very much off the beaten track!
Miles/Elevation:
9.8 miles
2,086 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:
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 5 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 11 miles. Eventually, you will see the Timberline Trailhead on the left. There is a small parking lot here.
There is no fee to park at the trailhead, and it can be found on Google Maps as the Timberline Trailhead.
The Timberline Lake Trail:
Out of the Valley:
From the trailhead, the trail immediately begins climbing up the side of the valley cut by the West Fork of Rock Creek. Basically the entire drive to the trailhead from 212 heads up this valley and along the creek, and you’ll spend the first part of the hike climbing out.
Always follow basic trail etiquette when on trail!
The climb out of the valley is pretty steep, but not unmanageable. In total, you’ll climb about 2,000 feet over 4.5 miles over the entire ascend, which really isn’t that bad. However, the early part of the day is probably the steepest section, so it’s nice to get it out of the way.
This area clearly was hammered by fires some time recently, and the entire valley is filled with stands of dead trees. There is plenty of evidence of regrowth here, lots of young trees sprouting up. Encouraging signs despite the obvious destruction!
The visuals of the burnt forest aren’t great, and it kind of kills the views for most of the trail. Another issue presented by the stands of deadwood is the lack of shade. You’ll pretty much be exposed to the sun the entire hike, and it can get hot!
This is grizzly country so make sure you are bear safe!
Now that I’m done complaining, the wild flowers on this early section of the hike were amazing! There were beautiful purple flowers absolutely everywhere climbing out of the valley, so while the forest views were lackluster, the wildflowers did provide some stunning visuals! I just wish I knew what they are called!
To the Lakes:
Once out of the starting valley, you’ll find yourself at the bottom of another valley which feeds down into the starting valley. You’ll now be hiking all the way up this new valley to the lakes.
The view changes a bit here as you enter the new valley. In front of you you’ll have new views looking towards a set of peaks far in the distance. I don’t think the views here were anything special either, but it was at least something new. Upon entering the higher valley, you’ll see that you have much more burnt forest to travel through unfortunately as well.
After about a mile and a half in the upper valley, you’ll encounter one of the only trail intersections of the day. Stay right at this intersection, and then you’ll quickly enter into a much different environment.
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors!
Living trees! Green, living trees everywhere! Once you reach the trail junction you’ll enter into a beautiful, green, shady, forest! It’s kind of amazing to be honest. I’m not even the biggest fan of trees, but after about 3 miles of climbing through sunny, exposed, burnt, forest, some shade was amazing!
After another mile and a half of gentle climbing and an easy creek crossing on a makeshift bridge, you’ll arrive at the first lake, Gertrude!
The Lakes:
Gertrude Lake is a pleasant lake. Surrounded by green grass, trees, and hills, it’s a very pretty spot. However, there aren’t really any notable peaks or ridges in the view of Gertrude, so while it’s nice, it isn’t the reason you hiked up here.
After a quick quarter mile further, you’ll crest a small knoll and Timberline Lake will suddenly come into view, opening up in front of you. This is the reason you hiked up here!
Timberline is a pretty big alpine lake. It’s not Tahoe, but compared to most of the lakes I hike to, this one is definitely not small. Above and beyond Timberline Lake, the skyline is totally dominated by the roughly 12,500 foot Silver Run Peak, one of the 10 highest mountains in Montana!
The nearly vertical walls leading towards the summit of Silver Run Peak are reminiscent of the walls of Yosemite Valley! The lightly colored rock and the insane verticality of the mountain’s slopes make it a truly imposing sight! The view here is definitely worth the climb!
There is a lot of open space around Timberline Lake, so in the rare case that you’d be sharing this place with numerous other people, there are plenty of spots to find solitude! This is a really quiet area, which is crazy considering the quality of these mountains! The Beartooths really are an underappreciated range!
Descending:
After sitting at Timberline Lake for a while, I began my descent. Honestly, I was pretty paranoid at the lake because this was my first hike in grizzly country in a year, so I was constantly looking over my shoulder waiting for a huge bear to steal my lunch! That never materialized, but I was still getting used to the higher level of awareness needed in grizzly territory!
The most exciting moment of the hike came about halfway down the descent, just after reentering the burnt forest. I thought I heard something, so I stopped hiking to listen more closely. I heard it again, so I definitely knew there was something amongst the trees.
After a minute of careful study, I saw movement about 200 yards away through the trees. It was a cow moose with her calf. Relieved, I put away my bear spray! I wasn’t able to get a clear picture of the two because of the distance and the obstruction of the trees, but that was my first moose sighting of the summer!
After an uneventful final few miles down, I arrived back at the trailhead on what was becoming a very warm afternoon!
This trail was kind of a mixed bag. On one hand, Timberline Lake is really awesome, and I got to see a couple of moose through the trees. On the other hand, most of the day was spent hiking through the remains of a burnt forest. While it wasn’t the greatest hike I’ve ever done, it wasn’t bad, and it was a nice intro to the Beartooths! Spoiler alert: this would be the worst hike I would do in the Beartooths (and it wasn’t terrible)!
Topdown Lifestyle Rating: 8/10
This is a good hike that takes you to an excellent final destination along a mostly underwhelming trail. While Timberline Lake is really nice, it’s not the best alpine lake I’ve ever been to, and the trail getting there is pretty unimpressive. It’s not poorly built necessarily, you just spend a lot of time hiking through burnt forest with underwhelming views.
I would recommend this hike if you get the chance, but there are better trails nearby in the Beartooths, and I definitely think there are other alpine lake hikes around the country that exceed this one. Do it if you have extra time, but don’t sweat it if you miss this one!
Pros:
- Beautiful alpine lakes
- Very quiet trail
- Chance to spot wildlife
- Wildflowers
Cons:
- Burnt forest along most of the trail
- Great views don’t appear until the end
Alternative Hikes:
When To Hike To Timberline Lake:
This trail will take you near 10,000 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 Timberline Lake 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 would be awesome!
Links For Further Reading:
Timberline Lake- Beartooth Mountains
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