Boulder Lakes

Drainage: Clarks Fork (MT)
Approaches: No documented trailhead route. Nearest is Aquarius Lake — Clarks Fork Trail #3, 6 mi — then about 1.9 mi cross-country north-northwest

Elevation: 9,144 feet
Fish: No FWP data
Coordinates: 45.06668, -109.82296
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

There is no maintained route to Boulder Lakes. The closest documented access is the Clarks Fork Trail #3 approach to Aquarius Lake, 6 miles with 2.75 of them off trail, then roughly two miles cross-country north-northwest by way of Little Molar.

We came the long way. Boulder Lakes came on the third day of a thru hike that started at the Lady of the Lake Trailhead. A thru hike takes two vehicles. We left one at the Clarks Fork end of the Beaten Path, drove around to Lady of the Lake in the other, and started walking. Set the shuttle rig before you leave, not after.

The hike

Coming off Sodalite the route drops hard, about 650 feet off the upper shelf. It is a mile of ground in a straight line and it took us more than two miles of walking and nearly two and a half hours to cover it, because you spend the whole descent working a line rather than following one. Loose granite, talus, and thickening timber the lower you get. There is no tread. You pick your own way down.

Boulder Lakes is 6.9 acres at 9,144 feet. FWP has no data for it, which means no stocking record rather than a confirmed empty lake.

From here the trip is headed downhill. Little Molar is six tenths of a mile southeast, and it is the last real climb of the day.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: no trail. You are choosing a line down steep, loose ground with a full pack, and the map will make it look far shorter than it walks. Watch your footing on the talus.

• Fishing: FWP has no data for these lakes. That is an absence of record, not a statement that they hold nothing.

• Camping: Boulder Lakes sits at 9,144 feet where the talus gives way to timber, so there is wind shelter here that you will not find anywhere on the shelf above. The ground is a mix of rock and duff and the lake is small at under seven acres. We came through in the evening on a moving day without scouting sites, so take this as terrain description rather than a report on what is available.

• Thru hike logistics: this is point to point, not a loop. Your ride has to already be parked at the exit trailhead.