Snyder Lake

Drainage: Clarks Fork (WY)
Approaches: Long Lake Trailhead — 4.3 mi round trip; ~700 ft up. On trail to the end of the unnamed pond, cross-country beyond · From Sheepherder Lake — about 0.5 mi west-southwest
Elevation: 10,005 feet
Fish: No WYG&F data on file
Coordinates: 44.96513, -109.52449
Bugs: Moderate on our visit — a steady breeze kept them manageable

Getting there

Long Lake Trailhead, off US-212 on the Wyoming side of Beartooth Pass. Snyder sits about 1.4 miles northwest of the trailhead in a straight line; the walk runs 4.3 miles round trip with roughly 700 feet of climbing.

If you're coming from Sheepherder, Snyder is about half a mile west-southwest across open ground.

The hike

From the trailhead, follow the maintained trail toward Sheepherder. It runs the length of a long unnamed pond. At the end of that pond the trail stops — there is nothing on the ground past that point. From there it's cross-country, straight up the valley to the northwest. A faint tread reappears near the top, just before the drop down to the water, and that short stretch is the only trail between the pond and the lake. OnX draws a trail line the whole way. It isn't there.

We took about three hours round trip with a four-year-old walking the entire distance — an hour and forty minutes up, just over an hour back down. That's a full day for small legs. A kid who's already done a couple of real hikes can handle it; a kid who hasn't, probably not.

On the way out we followed the mapped trail line instead of retracing the valley. More marshy ground to step through, but it goes.

The lake is 13 acres at 10,005 feet, ringed by sparse timber.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: the trail on your phone does not exist on the ground between the pond and the lake. Pick your line up the valley and turn around often — the return looks nothing like the way in.

• Camping: no established sites on the shoreline. The timber is sparse enough that nothing stands out right at the water. If you're staying, plan on a spot back in the trees rather than on the shore.

• Fishing: Wyoming Game and Fish has no record on file for Snyder.

• Bugs: moderate on our visit, kept down by wind. This is open country — still air changes that fast.