Reeves Lake

Drainage: West Rosebud
Approaches: Roadside on West Rosebud Road, a two minute walk to the shore
Elevation: 5,954 feet
Fish: No FWP data
Coordinates: 45.29170, -109.62748
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

Reeves sits directly off West Rosebud Road, a couple of miles before the Mystic Lake Trailhead. Pull over somewhere safe and it is a two minute walk to the shoreline.

The hike

No trail and no climbing. At 5,954 feet this is the lowest water in the drainage, well below Emerald and a long way below anything in the high country.

What sets it apart is the lily pads. The lake is full of them, which makes it a distinctly different kind of water from the rock rimmed alpine lakes further up the road. It reads as a pond rather than a mountain lake, and it is worth the two minutes for that alone if you are driving past.

FWP lists no species for Reeves. That is an absence of record rather than a statement that it holds nothing, but the lily pad growth is dense enough that casting from the bank is awkward regardless of what is in there.

Tips & safety

• Lily pads: they cover a lot of the water. Good to look at, difficult to fish around.

• Fishing: no FWP record for this lake. If you want water you can fish from the road, Emerald is further up and carries brook, brown and rainbow.

• On the way to Mystic: a couple of miles short of the trailhead, so it costs almost nothing to stop.