Parking
Riddle Lake Trailhead (7K3) is on the east side of South Entrance Road, about 2.3 miles south of Grant Village. NPS lists an information kiosk; parking capacity and overflow space are not documented.
Overview
About Riddle Lake Trail
Why go
- A gentle grade reaches a real backcountry lake with meadow and marsh scenery along the way.
- The lake gives you open views toward Mount Sheridan and the Red Mountains.
Heads up
- The lake comes after a long, mostly forested approach.
- The easy grade does not shorten the nearly five-mile round trip.
Riddle Lake Trail is a 4.8-mile out-and-back from Trailhead 7K3 to a backcountry lake, through forest, mountain meadows and a lily-pad marsh. The path is mostly level, but starts around 8,000 feet, so altitude can make this easy-grade walk feel harder than its modest climbing suggests. Allow two to three hours. Choose it for an unhurried lake outing and mountain views; it is not a summit climb.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the hike for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Yellowstone map
Full mapElevation7,917–8,009 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
Riddle Lake Trailhead0:00 / 0:25
“You're coming up on Riddle Lake Trailhead, for a mostly level forest-and-meadow walk to water lilies and views toward Mount Sheridan.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Yellowstone Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Blue Comes from the Water
- A Bat Changes Its Hunting Calls
- Grant Village
- Dating a Stone’s Broken Edge
- 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 Riddle Lake Trail
The walk to the lakeA narrow dirt path threads through tall lodgepole pines and grassy openings. At roughly 1.
A narrow dirt path threads through tall lodgepole pines and grassy openings. At roughly 1.75 miles, a lily-pad marsh comes first; near its east end, a blue strip of lake appears. The trail reaches the water a little later, then continues along the north shore toward a small rough-sand beach at the northeast end. The full mapped route follows that shoreline to the end before turning back. Heading back as soon as you first reach the water makes a shorter version. The route crosses the Continental Divide along the way.
What to notice at the waterFrom the shore, look south toward Mount Sheridan and the Red Mountains.
From the shore, look south toward Mount Sheridan and the Red Mountains. Water lilies fill the shallows, and the open lake feels like a clear change from the forest and meadow approach. Scan the meadows for elk and the lake edge for birds. For a photo, keep the lilies in the foreground and Mount Sheridan beyond them; that gives the lake its sense of scale.
Getting to the trailheadTrailhead 7K3 is on the east side of South Entrance Road, about 2.
Trailhead 7K3 is on the east side of South Entrance Road, about 2.3 miles south of Grant Village. The National Park Service lists an information kiosk at the access. Parking capacity and overflow space are not documented.
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.
