Timberline Lakes

Drainage: Rock Creek
Approaches: Timberline Trailhead — 5 mi, all on trail; 2,100 ft up · From Lake Gertrude — about 1 mi further up the trail

Elevation: 9,794 feet
Fish: Brook trout (FWP)
Coordinates: 45.13599, -109.50477
Bugs: Minimal on our visit

Getting there

Park at the Timberline trailhead in the Rock Creek area.

The hike

Follow the main trail past Lake Gertrude and keep going. Timberline Lake and Little Timberline sit directly adjacent to each other at the top. About five miles out with 2,100 feet of climbing, on trail the whole way.

Much of the approach cuts through an old burn with no shade. On a summer afternoon that stretch is a heat trap, and it is the part of this hike that wears people down rather than the climbing.

Timberline is 31.4 acres at 9,794 feet, one of the larger lakes in this part of Rock Creek. FWP lists brook trout, and the fishing was decent with most fish running ten to twelve inches. That is a noticeable difference from Gertrude a mile below, where fishing was slow for us.

Little Timberline sits a quarter mile east and 162 feet lower, right on the trail, so you pass it on the way up.

Tips & safety

• The burn is the hard part. No shade for a long stretch of the lower trail. Carry more water than five miles suggests.

• Fishing: brook trout averaging ten to twelve inches, and better here than at Gertrude.

• Camping: there are plenty of quality sites close to the water. Gertrude has the more impressive campsites, but Timberline has more of them and better fishing. Worth knowing that this basin is popular. On a Fourth of July visit we shared it with two other camping groups.

• A good base for Silver Run: from a camp here you can round the hillside cross country to the Silver Run Lakes, two miles east and 500 feet up, rather than walking the full trail route from the trailhead.