Parking
Crazy Creek Campground is the named access on US 212. The mapped trail begins about 65 feet from a vehicle area; separate day-use parking permission has not been confirmed.
Overview
About Crazy Creek Trail #568
Why go
- A continuous mapped trail corridor starts beside US 212
- Direct access into the Beartooth lake-country trail network
Heads up
- About 11 miles round trip to a junction rather than a confirmed lake destination
- The farther Farley Lake approach has an unclear distance convention
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Beartooth Highway map
Full mapElevation6,942–8,737 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
1 active Beartooth Highway alert
- ClosureBeartooth Highway seasonal closure and falling-rock advisoryBeartooth Highway (US-212) is closed for the season between Cooke City and Red Lodge; do not plan to travel the highway as a through route.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Beartooth Highway Tour Guide
Your drive to Crazy Creek Trail #568, narrated.
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 trailhead
Crazy Creek Falls0:00 / 0:32
“Crazy Creek Falls is coming up, a good short break if you'd like to stretch your legs beside a waterfall. Look for the unsigned pullout almost opposite the campground entrance.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Beartooth Highway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Streams That Meet Again
- Seeds Sealed for a Fire
- Lake Creek Falls and the Old Bridge
- Fox Creek Campground
- 62 audio storiesacross Beartooth Highway’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Grizzly Bear, Gray Wolf, Bison, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 82 trails, 36 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“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!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Crazy Creek Trail #568
The mapped Crazy Creek routeCrazy Creek Trail 568 is a backcountry out-and-back from US 212 to a junction in the…
Crazy Creek Trail #568 is a backcountry out-and-back from US 212 to a junction in the lake-country trail network. The mapped corridor is about 5.48 miles one way; turn around at its mapped end for 10.95 miles total. It joins the Farley Lake Loop Trail, but this line does not reach Farley Lake. A separate Farley Lake approach is listed at 11 miles on trail, though its distance convention and exact starting access are unclear.
The climb and returnThe sampled profile rises almost continuously from roughly 6,940 feet to 8,700 feet, gaining…
The sampled profile rises almost continuously from roughly 6,940 feet to 8,700 feet, gaining about 1,900 feet over the outward leg. Allow about seven to eight hours for the full return walk. This is a long, high-country outing; the available route sources do not describe footing or grade by stretch, so check the current Forest Service map before committing to the full distance.
Getting to the trailThe access is beside Crazy Creek Campground on US 212.
The access is beside Crazy Creek Campground on US 212. The mapped trail start is about 65 feet from a vehicle area there, but separate day-use parking permission has not been confirmed. The trail itself is a connector into the backcountry; at the mapped junction, do not assume the continuation to Farley Lake is included here. Pet rules for this route were not established, so check before bringing a dog.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Beartooth Highway
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.
