Lone Elk Lake

Drainage: Clarks Fork (MT)
Approaches: Lady of the Lake Trailhead — 7.5 mi, on trail the whole way; 1,900 ft up · Goose Lake Jeep Trail — 6 mi, on trail; 1,600 ft up · From the high country above the Sky Top basin — 0.74 mi southwest, cross-country

Elevation: 10,155 feet
Fish: Brook trout (FWP)
Coordinates: 45.11233, -109.83125
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

Two ways in, and they are very different trips.

If Lone Elk is your destination, walk to it. FWP puts it at 7.5 miles from the Lady of the Lake Trailhead with about 1,900 feet of climbing, on trail the entire way, or six miles from the Goose Lake Jeep Trail with 1,600 feet of climbing, also on trail. That is a long day but a straightforward one.

We came at it the other way, off the high country above, on a four day thru hike that started at Lady of the Lake and exited at the Clarks Fork end of the Beaten Path. Two vehicles, one dropped at the exit before we started. Without a shuttle you are walking the whole thing twice.

The hike

Day two was the only day we did not move camp. We left the tents at Splinter, walked a big loop up through the high basins, and came back to the same spot. About 9.7 miles and 1,900 feet of climbing over roughly nine hours, with a lot of that time spent standing around looking at things rather than walking.

Lone Elk came late in that loop. We reached it at 6.85 miles into the day with about 1,700 feet of climbing behind us, a little before five in the afternoon. Coming from the high point above the Sky Top basin it is three quarters of a mile southwest and mostly downhill, 27 minutes of walking, no trail, angling down through gaps in the rock and across open benches until the ground drops toward the water.

The lake is 18 acres at 10,155 feet. FWP lists brook trout.

Tips & safety

• Two very different routes: the trail approach and the high country approach are not the same hike. If you are walking in from a trailhead, there is maintained trail the whole way and no route finding. If you are dropping in from above the way we did, it is open ground and cliff bands and you need to be reading terrain the entire time.

• Camping: Lone Elk sits at 10,155 feet, above treeline, on open ground. No timber for wind shelter and nothing sheltered right at the water. At 18 acres it is big enough to build its own weather. Anyone camping here should plan on a fully exposed site. We passed through in the afternoon without scouting sites, so take this as terrain description rather than a report on what is available.

• Shuttle: if you are doing the thru hike, the trip ends at a different trailhead than it starts. Get the second vehicle placed before you leave.