Jordan Lake

Drainage: Stillwater
Approaches: Approximately 28 miles round trip from the Box Canyon trailhead, with roughly 3,400 feet of climbing. All on trail.
Elevation: 8,925 feet
Fish: Yellowstone cutthroat, common and self-sustaining. Montana FWP.
Coordinates: 45.23507, -110.07757
Bugs: Mosquitoes, just bad enough to be annoying.

Getting there

Trail #27 up the East Fork of the Boulder past Lake Kathleen and Lake Columbine, over Columbine Pass, between Favonius and Pentad, then two miles down and back up to Jordan. Trail the whole way.

We came from a camp at Sundown and found the trail out of there. Jordan is about an hour and a quarter along it.

It is also the natural place to drop packs if you are going up to Cirque. We left ours here, went up, and came back for them.

The hike

Jordan is 14.7 acres, 35 feet at the deepest and 17 on average, and it sits at 8,925 feet, which makes it one of the lower lakes on the plateau.

FWP's comment on it is the most candid thing in the guide. In 1969 the state felt the lake needed increased harvest and looked well used. Their note now says not much has changed — there are still plenty of cutthroat that are a bit on the thin side, and still evidence of use. Fifty years of the same assessment.

Their sampling backs it up. Sixteen fish in 2016 averaging 10.3 inches, fourteen in 2008 averaging 9.5. Plenty of fish, none of them big.

There are campsites along the east shore with plenty of firewood.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: On trail the whole way from Box Canyon. Two miles down and back up after passing between Favonius and Pentad.

• Camping: Sites along the east shore with plenty of firewood.

• Fishing: Plenty of self-sustaining cutthroat around 10 inches. FWP has been asking people to keep more of them since 1969.

• Bugs: Mosquitoes, annoying rather than bad.