Dryad Lake

Drainage: Stillwater
Approaches: Approximately 44 miles round trip from the Box Canyon trailhead, with roughly 3,500 feet of climbing. The last 2 miles are off trail.
Elevation: 9,194 feet
Fish: Golden trout, common and stocked. Montana FWP.
Coordinates: 45.28501, -110.02473
Bugs: Mosquitoes, just bad enough to be annoying.

Getting there

FWP's line is to take trails to Lake Surrender, then go cross-country southeast a mile and a half. That is what we did, and it is a bit under a mile as the crow flies from Surrender, an hour and a half on the ground.

They also list Woodbine at 12 miles, but only 6 of those are on trail. Box Canyon is 22 miles with 20 on trail.

This was the first stop on a long day out of Surrender — nine and a half hours, nearly ten miles, and six more lakes after this one.

The hike

Dryad is small, 5.1 acres, but deep for its size at 45 feet with a 12-foot average.

The goldens in it are big and hard to reach. FWP's 2018 overnight net took 16 fish averaging 13.7 inches with the largest at 18.9. Their comment on the same visit: no fish were caught or observed while angling. A net full of nineteen-inch goldens and nothing to show for the rod.

It gets stocked every six or seven years, 510 fish in 2017, 370 in 2024, with 510 more due in 2030. Older sampling in 1994 turned up cutthroat-golden and rainbow-golden crosses instead, so the population has shifted to pure goldens over time.

There are only a few flat spots to camp, near the inlet, with plenty of firewood.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: Trails to Lake Surrender, then cross-country southeast about a mile and a half.

• Camping: Only a few flat spots near the inlet. Plenty of firewood.

• Fishing: Big goldens, to nearly 19 inches in FWP's net. Their crew saw nothing at all while angling, so expect to work for them.

• Bugs: Mosquitoes, annoying rather than bad.