Parking
Lake Creek Trail #389 access near Cooke City, at 45.084404, -110.003854. No named lot or parking arrangement was verified; confirm vehicle access locally.
Overview
About Horseshoe Lake via Lake Creek Trail
Why go
- A continuous mapped trail chain reaches a high-country lake.
Heads up
- About 20.4 miles round trip, with a long descent followed by a climb.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Beartooth Highway map
Full mapElevation7,254–9,196 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 Horseshoe Lake via Lake Creek Trail, 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 tourMore stories near here in the app
- Before the Highway: Bannock Trail
- Turning Smoke into a Map Location
- Cooke City: Museum and Historic Store
- Soda Butte 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 Horseshoe Lake via Lake Creek Trail
A long out-and-back to Horseshoe LakeHorseshoe Lake via Lake Creek Trail is a remote, high-elevation route from the Lake Creek 389…
Horseshoe Lake via Lake Creek Trail is a remote, high-elevation route from the Lake Creek #389 access near Cooke City. Follow #389 west, take the short mapped connection to Horseshoe Trail #109, then continue to the lake. The mapped corridor is 10.2 miles one way, so returning the same way makes about 20.4 miles round trip. This record stops at the lake and leaves the longer Horseshoe Mountain extension off the route.
The long drop and climbThe profile falls from about 8,470 feet at the access to roughly 7,250 feet in the drainage,…
The profile falls from about 8,470 feet at the access to roughly 7,250 feet in the drainage, then climbs to about 9,200 feet at Horseshoe Lake. It is a demanding wilderness walk, not a quick lake stroll. Allow around 12 hours of walking for the full return; some hikers will prefer to split it overnight.
Access still needs confirmationThe mapped start is the Lake Creek Trail 389 access near Cooke City.
The mapped start is the Lake Creek Trail #389 access near Cooke City. A named parking area, current road access, permit rules and pet policy could not be confirmed. Check local Forest Service information before setting out.
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.
