Box Lake

Drainage: Clarks Fork (WY)
Approaches: Clay Butte Trailhead, approximately 7 mi round trip; roughly 1,500 ft of climbing along the way. On trail, then a short walk off it · From Native Lake, approximately 0.5 mi northwest
Elevation: 9,793 feet
Fish: Brook trout, common and self-sustaining
Coordinates: 44.99362, -109.62233
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

The Clay Butte Trailhead sits off US 212 west of the Beartooth Lake turnoff, up the gravel Clay Butte Road toward the lookout tower. The signed trailhead is on the left just before a hairpin switchback, at approximately 9,555 feet.

The trail drops roughly 345 feet over the first mile and a half, then climbs north to Native Lake at about three miles. From Native, Box sits approximately half a mile northwest. It is a short walk off the main trail, not a separate trip.

The hike

Approximately three and a half miles from the trailhead, with roughly 1,500 feet of climbing along the way. We reached Box about twenty minutes past Native.

Around nine and a half acres at approximately 9,793 feet, which makes it the largest of the small lakes clustered around Native. Deuce, Ace, and Surprise all sit within half a mile of here, and taking several of them in one afternoon costs very little extra walking.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: on trail to Native, then a short walk northwest off the main line. This is open plateau, so the lake is visible well before you reach it.

• Camping: we did not camp at Box, so this is terrain description and not a site report. The lake sits above the trees on open ground with no shelter. We carried on north and camped higher.

• Fishing: brook trout, common and self-sustaining. That comes from a fishing guide rather than Wyoming Game and Fish, and there is no state stocking record for Box Lake, so treat it as a starting point rather than a survey.

• Bugs: minimal on our visit.