Pipit Lake

Drainage: Stillwater
Approaches: Approximately 14 miles one way on the Upsidedown Trail, all on trail, with 3,700 feet up and 700 down.
Elevation: 9,594 feet
Fish: Yellowstone cutthroat and rainbow hybrids, common and self-sustaining. Montana FWP.
Coordinates: 45.27292, -110.10462
Bugs: Mosquitoes, just bad enough to be annoying.

Getting there

FWP's note is short and worth having: excellent trail all the way to Pipit Lake. Several trails onto the plateau between the Boulder and Stillwater drainages get you here.

We came at it from Owl, about a third of a mile southwest and at exactly the same elevation, and we were in its ground from about twenty to twelve until a little after noon.

The hike

Pipit is 7 acres and 25 feet at the deepest, with a 12-foot average.

The fish are another plateau puzzle. FWP classes them as cutthroat-rainbow hybrids and then says in the same entry that they look like pure rainbows with no sign of cutthroat, and that the origin is unknown. They fished it with a rod in 2016 and got 8 averaging 9.5 inches, calling them fat and healthy looking. In 2007 they got 7 averaging 9.8.

Small, consistent, well-fed fish, and nobody knows how they got there.

FWP says there are nice places to camp with plenty of firewood.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: On trail, and FWP calls the trail excellent the whole way. A third of a mile southwest of Owl.

• Camping: Nice places to camp, plenty of firewood.

• Fishing: Fat rainbows around 9 to 10 inches. FWP sampled with a rod both times.

• Bugs: Mosquitoes, annoying rather than bad.