Parking
Use the small pull-off at Trout Lake Trailhead on North Shore Lake McDonald Road; space is limited.
Overview
About Trout Lake Trail
Why go
- A Lake McDonald view breaks up the ridge climb
- A mountain-framed lake makes a rewarding turnaround
Heads up
- The steep ridge crossing repeats on the return
Trout Lake Trail is an 8-mile round-trip out-and-back from Trout Lake Trailhead on North Shore Lake McDonald Road. It climbs over Howe Ridge, drops to Trout Lake, and returns the same way, so you cross the ridge again on the way out. Allow about 5–6 hours for the steep climb and descent and a stop at the lake. Choose it for a demanding hike to a mountain lake, not an easy lakeshore stroll. Pets aren’t allowed on park trails.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the hike for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Glacier map
Full mapElevation3,258–5,102 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
1 active Glacier alert
- ClosureTwo Medicine Campground closed for 2026 constructionTwo Medicine Campground is closed throughout 2026 because of construction in the Two Medicine developed area.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Glacier Tour Guide
Your drive to Trout Lake Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Glacier National Park. 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 Glacier audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Trout Lake Trailhead0:00 / 0:24
“You’re nearing Trout Lake Trailhead, where the hike crosses Howe Ridge to a long lake framed by high peaks.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Glacier Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Upper McDonald Creek Trailhead
- McDonald Falls
- Johns Lake Loop Trailhead
- Lake McDonald West Shore Trailhead
- 204 audio storiesacross Glacier’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Grizzly Bear, Wolverine, Mountain Goat, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 157 trails, 91 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Our first time to glacier and we used the audio portion for Going to the Sun Road. Wonderful information with perfect advice of what to see and do along the road.”
Trail guide
Hiking Trout Lake Trail
Climbing to Howe RidgeThe trail climbs through forest and old burn. Around 0.
The trail climbs through forest and old burn. Around 0.8 mile, it crosses an avalanche chute where the trees open to the first view over Lake McDonald. Most of the ridge climb is wooded. After Howe Ridge, switchbacks descend through forest to the Camas Creek/West Lakes junction; the final three-quarters of a mile to Trout Lake is gentler and nearly level. This route ends at Trout Lake; continuing toward Arrow Lake is a longer itinerary.
At Trout LakeA long lake in a narrow mountain valley is the payoff.
A long lake in a narrow mountain valley is the payoff. The trail reaches a large logjam at the foot of the lake, with Stanton Mountain and Mount Vaught above the south shore and Heaven’s Peak farther along the basin. Look north along the water toward Rogers Mountain and Camas Ridge. The logjam makes a strong foreground if you want the water and mountain walls in one frame.
A sobering piece of historyA campground once stood at Trout Lake.
A campground once stood at Trout Lake. In 1967, one of two fatal grizzly attacks in Glacier that became known as the Night of the Grizzlies happened here; the other was at Granite Park. The attacks changed the park’s backcountry food-storage, camping, and bear-education practices.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Glacier
404 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
11 sightingsWolverineMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
1,173 sightingsMountain GoatMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
1,000 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
395 sightingsMooseMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
506 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Glacier. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
