Parking
Start at the large lot at Soda Butte / Lamar River Trailhead (3K1), off the Northeast Entrance Road. An information kiosk is at the trailhead.
Overview
About Cache Creek Trail
Why go
- Follows Cache Creek into Yellowstone’s remote Absaroka country.
- Large parking lot at the Soda Butte / Lamar River trailhead.
Heads up
- A strenuous 37.6-mile round trip demands serious endurance.
- Snowmelt and swift, cold water can make crossings hazardous.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yellowstone map
Full mapElevation6,627–10,007 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
5 active Yellowstone alerts
- ClosureBiscuit Basin closed after hydrothermal explosionBiscuit Basin’s parking lot, boardwalk, and Firehole River are closed to all travel.Official details
- ClosureMost Yellowstone roads close to regular vehicles November 1Most Yellowstone roads and the West, South, and East entrances are scheduled to close to regular vehicles November 1, 2026, as the park prepares for winter operations.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Yellowstone Tour Guide
Hear Yellowstone as you drive it.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Yellowstone 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 Yellowstone audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Lamar River Trailhead and Cache Creek0:00 / 0:27
“You're nearing the Soda Butte and Lamar River trailhead, for a walk above Lamar Valley's grasslands.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Soda Butte Cone
- Horns with a Yearly Change
- A Kingfisher’s Tunnel Nursery
- A Careful Return for Wolves
- 243 audio storiesacross Yellowstone’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Wolf, Grizzly Bear, Bison, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 167 trails, 192 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“First time driving through a national park. We used the Yellowstone tour on grand loop Road and it’s just like having a tour guide in your car with you.”
Trail guide
Hiking Cache Creek Trail
The hikeCache Creek Trail is a 37.6-mile (60.
Cache Creek Trail is a 37.6-mile (60.5-km) out-and-back from Soda Butte / Lamar River Trailhead (3K1). It follows the shared trail corridor through Lamar Valley, then turns up Cache Creek into the Absaroka Mountains toward Yellowstone’s northeast boundary. It is long and strenuous; budget about 18 hours of walking, plus time for stops. At this distance and remoteness, plan it as a backcountry trip rather than a casual valley walk.
Following Cache CreekThe route begins on shared marked trails from the large trailhead, then turns into the Cache…
The route begins on shared marked trails from the large trailhead, then turns into the Cache Creek drainage and continues upstream. The creek valley opens into grassland beneath wooded slopes before the trail climbs farther into the mountains. Keep the established route at junctions: a field account describes multiple bison trails in the drainage that can be easy to confuse with the hiking line.
Wildlife and waterA recent multi-day trip through this drainage recorded antelope, bison, moose, elk, deer,…
A recent multi-day trip through this drainage recorded antelope, bison, moose, elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats. Those are possible sightings, not a promise; give wildlife room. Yellowstone’s waters can be swift and cold, and crossings are hazardous. Snowmelt can keep streams high into summer.
Overnight plans and petsPets are not allowed on Yellowstone hiking trails or in the backcountry.
Pets are not allowed on Yellowstone hiking trails or in the backcountry. Every overnight stay requires a permit for specified campsites and dates; use designated campsites and follow the park’s food-storage rules.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Yellowstone
713 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
743 sightingsWolfMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
5,273 sightingsBisonMost seen around 7 AMSighting map
3,258 sightingsElkMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
397 sightingsMooseMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
1,494 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Yellowstone. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
