Native Lake

Drainage: Clarks Fork (WY)
Approaches: Clay Butte Trailhead, approximately 6 mi round trip; roughly 1,250 ft of climbing along the way. On trail the whole way
Elevation: 9,778 feet
Fish: No WYG&F data
Coordinates: 44.98805, -109.61663
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

The Clay Butte Trailhead sits off US 212 west of the Beartooth Lake turnoff. Take the gravel Clay Butte Road toward the lookout tower and watch for the signed trailhead on the left, just before a hairpin switchback, at approximately 9,555 feet.

You start by going down. The trail drops roughly 345 feet over the first mile and a half before it turns and climbs north, which means the walk out ends with a pull at the end of a long day. Cross the creek at a small waterfall, then a short cutoff runs about three tenths of a mile to meet the Beartooth High Lakes trail at the south end of Native Lake.

The Beartooth Lake Trailhead is the other way in. That one starts near the water and runs marshy for the first mile before climbing through meadows along the east side of Beartooth Butte. Both routes join at Native.

The hike

Approximately three miles in, on trail the whole way, and it took us a little over two hours with packs. The distance is modest but you gain roughly 1,250 feet along the way, most of it after the low point at a mile and a half.

Native is where the plateau opens up. It is the junction lake for this whole side of the range, and almost everything up here is reached through it.

Around six acres at approximately 9,778 feet. There are four more lakes within half a mile, all close to the trail. Box sits about half a mile northwest, Deuce roughly four tenths north, Ace about four tenths northeast, and Trey around seven tenths northeast. Surprise is four tenths north.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: on trail the whole way. From Clay Butte the cutoff joins the main Beartooth High Lakes trail at the south end of the lake, which skips the signed junction at the north end of Beartooth Butte.

• Camping: we did not camp at Native, so this is terrain description and not a site report. The lake sits high on open plateau with little shelter. We carried on past it and camped further north.

• Fishing: no WYG&F data. Wyoming's stocking database has no record for Native Lake, and we did not fish it. There is no published information on what swims here.

• Bugs: minimal on our visit.