Moccasin Lake

Drainage: Clarks Fork (MT)
Approaches: No documented trailhead route. Nearest is the Lady of the Lake Trail to Splinter Lake, then about 0.3 mi south · From Finger Lake — about 0.25 mi west

Elevation: 9,564 feet
Fish: Brook trout (FWP)
Coordinates: 45.08320, -109.84849
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

No trail reaches Moccasin. The nearest approach is whatever route brings you to the Splinter Lake area, and from there it is about three tenths of a mile south across the bench.

We came on a thru hike that started at the Lady of the Lake Trailhead 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

Moccasin came at the end of our first day, in the evening, after we had already reached Splinter. It sits about three tenths of a mile south on the same bench, and Finger is a quarter mile east of it, so the three make a short evening circuit rather than three separate trips.

No maintained path anywhere in this basin, so it is cross country the whole way, but the ground is open rocky benches and light timber and the walking is straightforward.

Moccasin is 9,564 feet. FWP lists brook trout, and survey notes describe a bottom that is mostly sand and silt, which is unusual in a basin where nearly everything sits on rock.

Tips & safety

• Camping: this is the best camp in the upper basin. There are good sites along the shore and there is firewood here, which is not true of anything higher up the drainage. We had already set our camp at Splinter because of how our first day ran, but if you are choosing fresh, Moccasin is the one to pick.

• Fishing: FWP lists brook trout. The sand and silt bottom makes it a different proposition from the rock bottomed lakes up on the shelf.

• Navigation: no maintained footpaths in this basin. Open benches and light timber make it easy walking, but you are picking the line yourself.

• Thru hike logistics: this is point to point, not a loop. Your ride has to already be parked at the exit trailhead.