Wrong Lake
Difficulty: Hard
Trip Type: Backpacking / Day Hike
Distance: ~5 miles from trailhead / ~3 miles from Anvil Lake
Elevation: 9,007 feet
Coordinates: 45.13749, -109.96277
Time: ~2 hours from Courthouse Lake
Access: Extremely rugged unmaintained off-trail navigation. ATV or off-road buggy required to reach the vehicle turnaround.
Bugs: Minimal (little to no bugs)
Getting there
Accessing this area requires navigating the rugged Goose Lake Jeep Trail. You will absolutely need an ATV, an off-road buggy, or a highly capable off-road vehicle. Your driving portion ends when you reach the vehicle turnaround near the Goose Creek waterfall area, which serves as your staging spot to park and shoulder your packs.
Be extremely cautious when parking your vehicle; local pine martens are highly active in this basin and are notorious for chewing on wires and cables underneath parked machines. Just before the trail ends near the falls, look for a hard right turn that points you north to begin the hike.
The hike
If you are traveling straight from the vehicle turnaround, the route to Wrong Lake is 5 miles and involves 1,300 vertical feet of elevation gain. For hikers linking lakes together from the Anvil Lake basin, this destination sits about 3 miles past Anvil Lake. If you are tracking sequentially from your last water stop, Wrong Lake is located exactly 1 mile past Courthouse Lake.
This lake can be viewed from the top of the canyon rim near Courthouse Lake. To actually reach the water, you must descend 1,000 vertical feet down from the canyon rim, and then climb that same 1,000 vertical feet right back up to exit. This is not an easy hike. The route down into the canyon is very steep, rocky, filled with stinging needles, and guarded by cliffs. Reaching the shore of this lake is exhausting and will completely wear you out, but you cannot truly say you have been to a lake unless you physically step down and touch the water.
Tips & safety
Navigation: The entire route down from the canyon rim is entirely unmaintained and features hazardous cliffs. Expert-level route-finding and extreme caution are required to find a safe way down to the water and back up.
Weather: High-altitude mountain weather can turn fast here. Come fully prepared for sustained cold rain or sudden storms.
Fishing: FWP and GNIS data listed for Yellowstone Cutthroat.
