Island Lake

Difficulty: Moderate
Trip Type: Day Hike / Multi-Day Backpacking
Distance: ~5.4 miles from trailhead / ~2.4 miles from Mystic Lake Overlook
Elevation: 7,734 feet
Coordinates: 45.22213, -109.81824
Time: ~1.5 hours from Mystic Lake Overlook
Access: Highly maintained trail. Departs from the main Mystic Lake Trailhead near the end of West Rosebud Road.
Bugs: Minimal (little to no bugs)

Getting there

Drive along West Rosebud Road past Emerald Lake and West Rosebud Lake. The trailhead parking lot is located just before you reach the power plant at the end of the road, providing ample parking space for standard vehicles.

The hike

If you are traveling straight from the vehicle turnaround, the route to Island Lake is roughly 5.4 miles one way and involves 1,750 vertical feet of elevation gain from the start. For hikers tracking sequentially along this drainage, this destination sits roughly 2.4 miles past your last stop at the initial Mystic Lake overlook. Because Mystic Lake is 3 miles long, this trail runs right alongside the shoreline, and Island Lake sits directly adjacent to the upper end of Mystic Lake.

The trail continues along the main valley floor on a highly maintained and well-defined footpath. This stretch is a beautiful, straightforward extension of the classic Mystic Lake route and serves as the gateway further up the drainage toward Silver Lake.

Tips & safety

• Core Drainage Route: This lake sits directly on the main arterial trail of the West Rosebud drainage, making it an ideal stepping stone or rest stop if you are staging a multi-day family backpacking trip deeper into the high country.

• Fishing: FWP and GNIS data listed for Rainbow Trout.