Lakes are beautiful, and Montana has a lifetime’s worth of them, with many being ones you can drive right up to.
Sometimes, though, the real gems require a little effort. All of the lakes covered here require a hike to reach. Most of those hikes are easy or moderate in difficulty, but a few will make you sweat a bit.
Don’t worry; the reward is awesome!
Leigh Lake, Cabinet Mountains
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Located in northwestern Montana, the Cabinet Mountains are a small alpine range with several lakes in them. Because they’re not in or near a national park, they aren’t that well-known outside the region, so you avoid crowds here most of the time.
The hike to scenic Leigh Lake isn’t that long, but it’s very steep.
Granite Lake, Cabinet Mountains
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For something just as scenic while spreading out the elevation gain over more distance, hike to Granite Lake.
Bonus: the last remaining glacier in the Cabinets borders this lake and helps feed it.
Glacier Lake, Mission Mountains
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The Mission Mountains are beautiful and easily seen, especially from the west, but they’re not so easily approachable due to red tape and trail lengths.
An exception is Glacier Lake, accessed via public lands on the east side of the range. From the lake, you can also continue deeper and higher into the wilderness.
Iceberg Lake, Glacier National Park
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True to its name, Iceberg Lake has floating chunks of ice in its waters most of the summer once the winter ice breaks up.
It’s also surrounded on three sides by sheer cliffs that rise over 3000’, adding even more grandeur to the setting. If you have time for only one lake hike in Glacier, do this one.
Upper Grinnell Lake, Glacier National Park
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If you have more time, though, hike to Upper Grinnell Lake, the trail to which starts just a couple miles up the road from the Iceberg Lake Trail.
While Iceberg Lake’s icebergs melt away or become relative specks by late summer, you get icebergs all summer at Upper Grinnell because it’s directly fed by a glacier abutting its shores.
Cracker Lake, Glacier National Park
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This beautiful turquoise lake gets its color from “glacial flour,” silt that runs into it as the glacier above it melts.
It’s in the same area of the park as Iceberg Lake and Upper Grinnell Lake are, so you can visit all three if you’re visiting for several days.
Our Lake, Sawtooth Range
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South of Glacier National Park is a vast roadless area of mountains called the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.
The Sawtooth Range is a rugged range guarding some of the eastern boundary of the wilderness. It’s mostly an area for long-distance backpackers and horse packers, but Our Lake is a day hike of about 3 miles each way. After you reach this alpine gem, you can follow an unofficial trail west of it to reach a ridge overlooking the Bob Marshall Wilderness itself.
Frazier Lake, Bridger Range
Image Credit: Robert Sihler.
The Bridgers are a narrow range northeast of Bozeman. Fairy Lake, which has a campground and a trailhead, is the most popular summer destination in them, but just before the access road’s last bend to reach Fairy Lake, there’s an obvious but unsigned trail heading off into meadows on the right.
This trail, which is steep at times, leads for maybe two miles to a ridge, where you can look down into a cirque below and see Frazier Lake and the jagged peaks surrounding it. Heading down to the lake itself is an option, or you can be happy with the view and head back when ready. You’ll see few or no other people on this hike.
Expedition Lake, Madison Range
Image Credit: Robert Sihler.
Most people who see this lake are backpacking, but if you want to do it as a long day hike, expect about 15 miles with steep grades at times.
Expedition Lake is in scenic Hilgard Basin, one of the most beautiful areas of the Madisons, the westernmost major mountain range in Greater Yellowstone.
Hyalite Lake, Gallatin Range
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Hyalite Canyon is south of Bozeman. In the summer, you can drive the road up it and take the fork that stays with Hyalite Creek and ends at a trailhead for Hyalite Basin.
A moderately strenuous hike of about 6 miles takes you past several waterfalls to Hyalite Lake, which is about at timberline. Rugged cliffs frame one side of the lake, while directly across is Hyalite Peak, which you can hike up if you have time and energy left.
Pine Creek Lake, Absaroka Range
Image Credit: Robert Sihler.
The Montana Absarokas dominate the eastern side of Paradise Valley, which runs north from Yellowstone to the town of Livingston.
Many people who get on the Pine Creek Trail only hike to scenic Pine Creek Falls, and there’s a reason for that: after the falls, the trail gets really steep. It’s only 3.5 miles to Pine Creek Lake, though, and the setting is one of the most fantastic in Montana.
Black Canyon Lake, Beartooth Range
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The heavily glaciated Beartooths are one of the best places in Montana for alpine lakes, and they have more of them than any other range in the state does. Getting to spectacular Black Canyon Lake requires some real effort, though.
The trail starts not far from Red Lodge, and for 5 miles, it isn’t so bad. But then the 2-mile spur to Black Canyon Lake is steep and required navigating an often-unstable boulder field. It feels desolate yet breathtaking at the barren shores, though, where high, snowy peaks ring the rest of the lake.
Goose Lake, Beartooth Range
Image Credit: Robert Sihler.
With an ATV or a modified Jeep or four-wheel drive SUV, you may be able to drive all 5 miles of Goose Lake Road if it’s free of snow. If you can, you’ll park near the outlet of Goose Lake and have a very short hike to it.
More likely, though, you’re going to end up hiking all or part of the road, but it’s not that bad and passes some other lakes along the way. From beautiful Goose Lake, you can hike two miles to a pass that overlooks the Grasshopper Glacier and its melt lake.
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