Burnt Bacon Lake

Drainage: Clarks Fork (MT)
Approaches: From Granite Lake, approximately 1.75 mi round trip · Clay Butte Trailhead, approximately 8.5 mi with 0.5 mi off-trail; roughly 330 ft up and 900 down · Muddy Creek Trail, approximately 9.5 mi with 0.5 mi off-trail; roughly 870 ft up
Elevation: 8,994 feet
Fish: No fish captured (FWP)
Coordinates: 45.01216, -109.65922
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

We were basecamped at Granite for two nights. Burnt Bacon sits about three quarters of a mile northeast of the north end of the lake, so once camp was up we went and had a look with day packs on. It is a short trip.

FWP puts it at eight and a half miles from Clay Butte or nine and a half from Muddy Creek, with about half a mile off-trail either way.

The hike

Short and easy from a Granite basecamp, which is the way to do it.

Around fifteen acres at 8,994 feet, running about eighteen feet on average and forty-six at the deepest.

We saw a black bear here.

We also went looking for the waterfall at Park Rapids on this trip, and it is the one thing on the whole route we would tell you to skip. The walk in and out was miserable both directions for a rapid that did not justify it. There are better unnamed rapids you will pass on this hike without going out of your way. Whatever the map is promising, it is not there.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: northeast a quarter mile from the north point of Granite Lake. FWP describes it as southeast of Lake Elaine.

• Camping: FWP records no good campsites here but plenty of firewood. Granite is the better bet for a night, and it is close enough that there is no reason to sleep here.

• Fishing: there are no fish. FWP surveyed in 1989 and again in 2014 and caught nothing either time. A grayling plant was scheduled for 1984 and cancelled at the request of the Forest Service, and no survey will be run again unless something gets stocked. Spawning habitat is restricted regardless. Bring a rod for Granite, not for here.

• Bugs: minimal on our visit.