Bill Lake

Drainage: Stillwater
Approaches: Approximately 45 miles round trip from the Box Canyon trailhead, with roughly 2,900 feet of climbing. All on trail.
Elevation: 8,456 feet
Fish: Cutthroat and rainbow hybrids, common and self-sustaining. Montana FWP.
Coordinates: 45.29616, -110.00305
Bugs: Mosquitoes, just bad enough to be annoying.

Getting there

There is a short way and there is a sane way, and they are not the same.

The short way is Woodbine, 9 miles, but only 5 of them on trail. The other 4 are up Flood Creek, and FWP's write-up says: climb, no trail, the Flood Creek drainage is basically impassable, do not attempt unless you enjoy torture. Use Box Canyon, Upsidedown or West Fork Stillwater instead.

We came the sane way, on trail from a camp at Lake Surrender, past Cimmerian and on east. Bill is a bit over a mile past Cimmerian and it is trail the whole way. Two hours and a bit from camp, and we were back by twenty past six.

Box Canyon is 22.5 miles, all of it on trail.

The hike

Bill is 10.4 acres and 28 feet at the deepest, sitting at 8,456 feet, which makes it the lowest lake on this side of the plateau.

FWP sampled it in 2018 and found good numbers of nice sized fish, most of them looking like hybrids. They got 16 three-way crosses averaging 9.2 inches and running to 15.4, plus 9 rainbows averaging 10.4. Earlier work in 1991 turned up cutthroat-golden and rainbow-golden crosses.

Good numbers is the phrase worth noting. Several of these Flood Creek lakes hold big fish in small numbers; this one holds plenty.

There are some flat spots to camp with plenty of firewood.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: On trail from the plateau via Cimmerian. Do not go up Flood Creek from Woodbine — it is four trailless miles and FWP calls it torture.

• Camping: Some flat spots with plenty of firewood.

• Fishing: Good numbers of hybrids and rainbows, fish to 15.4 inches.

• Bugs: Mosquitoes, annoying rather than bad.