Beartooth Highway, MT · WY
Follow an old road to a talus overlook above Shelf Lake.
Overview
Map & elevation
Plan your hike
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 trailhead
Main Fork Road: Glacier Lake“Up ahead is the turnoff for Main Fork Rock Creek Road and the Glacier Lake hike. The lake is well beyond the highway: a rough, rocky road leads to the trailhead, and high clearance is advised.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Beartooth Highway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“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
Hellroaring Plateau Trail #11 is an out-and-back across the open plateau on an old road, ending at a steep talus slope above Shelf Lake. The mapped Trail #11 line measures 2.89 miles one way, so the return walk is about 5.8 miles. The Forest Service lists 2.5 miles but does not state the distance convention; this guide follows the continuous mapped line from the road-end trailhead to the overlook. Allow about four hours. The trail rises from just under 9,900 feet to about 10,800 feet, so the altitude adds effort to a route that looks modest on a map.
The Forest Service describes the tread as an old road crossing the plateau. The sources do not break down its surface, crossings, or intermediate turns, so there is not enough evidence for a more detailed stretch-by-stretch account. The mapped line stays on Trail #11 and climbs toward the high end of the plateau; it does not loop around the lakes.
The trail ends at a steep talus slope overlooking Shelf Lake. This is the main payoff and the turnaround for the route recorded here. A separate user-created path leaves Trail #11 toward Snowbank Lake, and longer outings continue toward other plateau lakes or Mount Rearguard. Those extensions are not part of this 5.8-mile return walk. For a photo at the overlook, include the talus in the foreground with Shelf Lake below to show the drop.
The old road dates to the 1930s, when it was built to develop chrome deposits on Hellroaring Plateau. It now carries hikers across open high country toward the lake overlook; reaching the more distant lakes means choosing a longer route beyond Trail #11.
From U.S. 212, follow Main Fork Rock Creek Road (Forest Road 2421). About 0.9 mile past three campgrounds, bear right onto Hellroaring Road (Forest Road 2004) and continue 5.6 miles to the road-end trailhead. The Forest Service reports ample parking. The last road is rocky and potholed; high clearance is advised, and horse trailers are not recommended.
Dogs are allowed on National Forest land; keep them under control. This is bear country, and the Forest Service advises carrying bear spray.
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
EasyGreenough Lake Trail #103.10.4 mi · 20 min · 2 mi awayA quick, gentle walk to a Beartooth lake.
EasyParkside Trail #1032.3 mi · 1.3 hr · 2.8 mi awayA gentle walk through pine woods and meadows between two campgrounds.
ModerateTwin Lakes Trail1.7 mi · 1.5 hr · 3 mi awayA high-country descent to Twin Lakes, then a steep climb back.
ChallengingLine Creek Plateau Trail7.9 mi · 5 hr · 3.1 mi awayA long, exposed crossing over open alpine tundra.
ModerateBroadwater Lake via Lake Fork Trail7.5 mi · 4 hr · 3.5 mi awayA creekside ramble ends in Broadwater's open mountain meadows.
ChallengingSundance Pass Traverse20.5 mi · 11 hr · 3.5 mi awayA full day over Sundance Pass, from lakes to wild creek.
ChallengingLake Fork Trail #2 to Sundance Pass19 mi · 12 hr · 3.5 mi awayA long creekside climb from lakes to a high alpine pass
ChallengingBlack Canyon Lake Trail13.3 mi · 7.5 hr · 3.5 mi awayA long wilderness hike to a turquoise lake and glacier views
Campground · 1.1 mi awayM-K CampgroundA free creekside campground near Beartooth Highway hikes.
Sight · 2.2 mi awayRock Creek Vista PointA short paved path opens onto a huge glacial valley.
Campground · 2.3 mi awayGreenough Lake CampgroundCreekside camping, with Greenough Lake a short walk away.
Scenic pullout · 2.3 mi awayQuad Creek Scenic OverlookThe highway curls below you across a wide mountain valley.
Campground · 2.4 mi awayLimber Pine CampgroundA quiet creekside base below the Beartooth switchbacks.
Campground · 2.8 mi awayParkside CampgroundCreekside camping near the foot of the Beartooth switchbacks.
Sight · 3.1 mi awayMontana-Wyoming State Line SignA quick state-line sign stop on the seasonal Beartooth Highway.
Scenic pullout · 3.6 mi awayTwin Lakes OverlookTwo alpine lakes, seen from above without a hike.Parkwolf’s Beartooth Highway ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
