Wounded Man Lake

Drainage: Stillwater
Approaches: Approximately 30 miles round trip from the Box Canyon trailhead, with roughly 3,100 feet of climbing. All on trail.
Elevation: 9,387 feet
Fish: Rainbow trout, common and self-sustaining. Montana FWP.
Coordinates: 45.27176, -110.08598
Bugs: Mosquitoes, just bad enough to be annoying.

Getting there

FWP calls it a popular lake on the plateau near Wounded Man Creek, with several trails serving the area. Box Canyon is 15 miles, West Stillwater is 17.

We came from a camp at Martes. It is a very steep drop off Martes to start, down about 500 feet, and then uphill to Wounded Man. Two hours and twenty minutes across.

We came back through here again three days later on the way out and camped nearby.

The hike

Wounded Man is 50.2 acres and 55 feet at the deepest, which makes it the biggest lake on this plateau by a wide margin.

The rainbows in it are a mystery. FWP's note says there is no record of where they came from. The only stocking on the books is cutthroat, 40,190 in 1938 and 19,890 in 1946, and no cutthroat turn up in the surveys. What is there now is a self-sustaining rainbow population nobody can account for.

They sampled 21 fish in 2019 with a rod and nets, averaging 9.7 inches and running to 12.7, and 8 in 2003 averaging 10.1. Consistent, modest fish.

There are a lot of campsites. FWP says some firewood is available but much of it is picked over, which follows from this being a high-use area.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: On trail. Several trails reach this area, which makes it the hub of the plateau.

• Camping: A lot of sites. Firewood picked over. Expect company.

• Fishing: Self-sustaining rainbows around 10 inches, origin unknown. FWP took their last sample partly with a rod.

• Bugs: Mosquitoes, annoying rather than bad.

• From Martes: Very steep going down off Martes before the climb back up to here.