Sundance Lake
Drainage: Rock Creek
Approaches: West Fork Rock Creek Trailhead — 9 mi, all on trail; 1,800 ft up, 250 ft down · From Shadow Lake — about 0.65 mi northeast
Elevation: 9,601 feet
Fish: Yellowstone cutthroat (FWP)
Coordinates: 45.10929, -109.57762
Bugs: Minimal on our visit
Getting there
West Fork Rock Creek Trailhead. Drive past the campgrounds along the gravel access road to the main parking area.
Follow the main trail up the valley past Quinnebaugh Meadows. The tread is well defined the whole way and stays that way to the footbridge below the lake. FWP puts it at nine miles with 1,800 feet of climbing.
The hike
Sundance is the most accessible lake in this part of the drainage and the busiest, because it sits right on the trail rather than off to one side of it. If you are walking up the West Fork you will pass it whether you meant to or not.
The footbridge just below the lake is the landmark that matters. Cross it and the trail begins its climb toward Sundance Pass. Leave the trail there instead and you drop off into the Shadow Lake basin, which is how we did it, and how you reach everything in the upper basin above.
Sundance is 2.9 acres at 9,601 feet. FWP lists Yellowstone cutthroat.
Shadow Lake is about two thirds of a mile southwest and is the better camp if you are staying more than a night.
Tips & safety
The footbridge is the fork: straight on and up is Sundance Pass. Off the trail at the bridge is the Shadow Lake basin and the five lakes above it. Everything in this drainage comes down to which side of that bridge you take.
Weather: afternoon thundershowers are common here through the summer, and this valley gives you no warning until they are on you.
Fishing: FWP lists Yellowstone cutthroat.
Camping: Sundance sits at 9,601 feet just off the main trail, so it is convenient and it is used. There is timber and real shelter here, which is more than anything above it offers. If you want quiet, Shadow is two thirds of a mile southwest and off the trail entirely.
