Sight · Beartooth Highway
A creekside hike links Calamity Falls with Sentinel Falls.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Beartooth Highway Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Beartooth Highway. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Beartooth Highway audio tourRecorded for this place
West Fork Road: Calamity and Sentinel Falls“You're approaching West Fork Road, the access for the Calamity and Sentinel Falls hike. The trailhead is farther up the valley, with the final five and a half road miles on dirt.”
Plays as you drive up to Sentinel Falls in the Parkwolf Beartooth Highway Tour Guide.
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Sentinel Falls is the second named waterfall reached along West Fork Trail #1, in the Custer Gallatin National Forest west of Red Lodge. Calamity Falls comes first; Sentinel lies farther along the same creekside trail. Choose this walk for a forested waterfall stop rather than another highway overlook.
The listed distance is 1.8 miles from the West Fork trailhead; mapped measurements reach the falls' vicinity at about 2.2 miles, so plan for roughly four miles round trip. The route follows the West Fork of Rock Creek through forest and rocky ground, past Calamity Falls, then continues beyond Sentinel toward Quinnebaugh Meadows and Sundance Pass. A vault toilet and parking lot are at the trailhead. From Red Lodge, West Fork Road turns to dirt after 4.5 miles, with another 5.5 miles to the trailhead.
The main trail reaches Sentinel Falls, but the view can be hard to pick out from the path. A faint side trail descends to the base for a closer look at the cascade. If you find that spur, it gives you the close waterfall view; from the main trail, you see more of the creekside setting.
Wildlife
42 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
22 sightingsGray WolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
49 sightingsBisonMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
122 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
260 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
16 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Beartooth Highway. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
ChallengingLake Mary Trail #1B11.8 mi · 6 hr · 1.8 mi awayLong West Fork climb to two high lakes above the valley.
ChallengingWest Fork Trail #122 mi · 13 hr · 1.8 mi awayWaterfalls and alpine lakes lead to an 11,045-foot pass.
EasyCalamity and Sentinel Falls Trail4.5 mi · 2.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayTwo waterfalls, a creekside walk, and a long open stretch early.
ModerateQuinnebaugh Meadows Trail9 mi · 5.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayWaterfalls break up the long walk to a flower-filled meadow.
ChallengingCamp Senia Trail #167 mi · 5 hr · 1.8 mi awayA long climb to a high-country junction and wilderness connections.
ChallengingCrow Lake via Camp Senia Trail17.2 mi · 10 hr · 1.8 mi awayA long backcountry climb to Crow Lake's granite cirque.
ChallengingSylvan Lake via Camp Senia Trail20.6 mi · 12 hr · 1.8 mi awayA high-country out-and-back to Sylvan Lake via Camp Senia.
ChallengingEast Rosebud–Camp Senia Trail14.1 mi · 9.5 hr · 1.8 mi awayA hard alpine crossing links West Fork with East Rosebud Campground.Parkwolf’s Beartooth Highway ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
