Parking
Use the signed OK9 pullout about 3.8 miles north of Old Faithful Junction toward Madison. An information board is listed at the trailhead; parking capacity is not documented.
Overview
About Mallard Creek Trail
Why go
- A high outcrop opens a view over Mallard Lake and its drainage.
Heads up
- A long, mostly uphill walk with limited views early.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yellowstone map
Full mapElevation7,277–8,255 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
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 area
Grand Prismatic Overlook and Fairy Falls0:00 / 0:26
“You're approaching the Fairy Falls trailhead, the starting point for Grand Prismatic Overlook as well as the waterfall hike.”
Plays on the road 0.6 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A New Rack Every Spring
- Midway Geyser Basin and Grand Prismatic
- A Research Boat on Grand Prismatic
- Great Fountain Geyser
- 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 Mallard Creek Trail
The long way to Mallard LakeMallard Creek Trail is an 8.6-mile out-and-back from the signed OK9 trailhead to Mallard Lake.
Mallard Creek Trail is an 8.6-mile out-and-back from the signed OK9 trailhead to Mallard Lake. It climbs through burned conifer woods, mostly uphill over rocky rolls, with the lake and a high rock outcrop as the payoff. Allow about four to five hours. The park lists 8.6 miles round trip; another published figure is 9.2, and the mapped corridor measures about 4.5 miles one way. I’d allow for roughly nine miles and a long half-day.
The climbEarly on, the route runs through lodgepole pine with limited views.
Early on, the route runs through lodgepole pine with limited views. Farther up, it rolls over rocky volcanic knolls: short descents interrupt a climb that is mostly uphill. Older trees appear higher on the route, and a distant view of Grand Prismatic Spring opens from the upper trail.
The lake and the viewThe route reaches Mallard Lake after a high rock outcrop overlooking the water and the…
The route reaches Mallard Lake after a high rock outcrop overlooking the water and the beginning of the Mallard Creek drainage. That outcrop is the best place to stop and look back over the lake. If you take a photo, include some of the rock foreground with the lake and drainage so the view has a sense of scale.
Start and backcountry rulesUse the signed Mallard Creek Trailhead (OK9) pullout about 3.
Use the signed Mallard Creek Trailhead (OK9) pullout about 3.8 miles north of Old Faithful Junction toward Madison. There’s an information board at the trailhead; no services are listed there. Pets are prohibited. The park’s backcountry guidance asks hikers to go in groups of three or more, stay together, know how to navigate, and avoid hiking after dark. A permit is required for overnight camping at the lake, not for the day hike.
A ski-trail originMallard Creek was originally laid out as a winter ski trail.
Mallard Creek was originally laid out as a winter ski trail. Today’s walk is a long, rocky climb through burned forest to the lake.
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.
