Parking
Start at Twin Lakes Trailhead on US 212, where trail #625 leaves the highway. A named lot, parking capacity, and restroom details could not be verified.
Overview
About Twin Lakes Trail
Why go
- A quick high-alpine walk to the lakeshore
- Big basin scenery close to the highway
Heads up
- The descent becomes steep near the lake and must be climbed on the return
- The mapped #625 line reaches the north lake; a complete two-lake circuit is unverified
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Beartooth Highway map
Full mapElevation9,751–10,299 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
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 Twin Lakes 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 tourRecorded for this trailhead
Twin Lakes Trailhead0:00 / 0:23
“Twin Lakes Trailhead is coming up, with a short hike down into the alpine basin. Allow about an hour and a half to reach the north lake's shore and return the same way.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Beartooth Highway Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Line Creek Plateau Trailhead
- Twin Lakes Overlook
- Deep Lake Highway Trailhead
- A Pika’s Winter Pantry
- 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 Twin Lakes Trail
The short versionTwin Lakes Trail (625) is a 1.
Twin Lakes Trail (#625) is a 1.7-mile out-and-back from US 212 to the north lake's shore and back. It loses about 520 feet on the way down, then makes you climb the same slope at more than 10,000 feet. The draw is a short walk into the alpine basin below Beartooth Pass. If you only want the view, the highway overlook looks across the lakes without the descent and climb.
Down into the basinThe route starts with a gentle downhill from the highway along what is mostly a vehicle track.
The route starts with a gentle downhill from the highway along what is mostly a vehicle track. Near the lakes it drops steeply into the basin. The mapped #625 line reaches the north lake; you'll reverse the same corridor to get back, so save energy for the roadward climb. This is a short hike, but the altitude and uphill return make it feel bigger than the mileage suggests.
Know what the mileage includesThe 1.7 miles count the mapped access trail down and back.
The 1.7 miles count the mapped access trail down and back. Some hiking descriptions give about 2.6 miles for a longer outing, but the extra shoreline distance is not clearly mapped. The second lake sits just south of the north lake; its shore connection is not mapped clearly enough to include here. Count any shoreline wandering as extra distance and time rather than part of the defined trail.
Water and wildlifeThere is no potable water at the Beartooth Plateau recreation area.
There is no potable water at the Beartooth Plateau recreation area. This is bear country, and the Forest Service advises hikers to carry bear spray and know how to use it.
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.
