Sill Lake

Difficulty: Little Legs
Trip Type: Day Hike
Distance: ~1.5 miles round trip
Elevation gain: ~200 feet up
Time: ~45 minutes round trip
Access: Unmaintained sections. Departs from Beartooth Lake outlet.
Bugs: Marshy (bring repellent)

Getting there

Park at the Beartooth Lake outlet off the Beartooth Highway (US-212). The trail starts directly at the parking area.

The hike

The trail climbs straight up from the parking lot, skirting the trees with a rock face on your left. It is hard to find the trail for the first 50 vertical feet, but after that initial climb, it becomes easy to follow. Once you clear this 200-foot vertical climb, the rest of the route to the water is flat or downhill.

At the rock opening, the trail bends toward the forest, hits a creek, and follows it straight up to a swampy meadow. The trail skirts the edge of the meadow the entire way across without entering the trees, picking back up on the far side. Near the lake, the trail stays high then drops to the shore about halfway along the lake. Once you see the lake, leave the trail and head straight for the inlet instead.

Tips & safety

• Navigation: The trail disappears right at the trailhead, during the meadow crossing, and above the lake near the rocks and downed trees. It is not dangerous, but it is very easy to lose your way. On the return trip, look for the trail to pick back up above the lake, staying high past the rocks and downed timber.

• Shoreline: The inlet is swampy, and the lake is marshy overall. Dense brush and swamp make bank access difficult, meaning you will likely need to wade into the water if you want to fish.

• Camping: There are very few good sites due to the marshy, forested, and uneven ground around the lake, though firewood is plentiful.

• Fishing: Fish presence is unconfirmed.