Black Canyon of the Yellowstone (Eagle Creek to Blacktail)

Yellowstone National Park and Custer Gallatin National Forest (Eagle Creek Campground near Gardiner to Blacktail Deer Creek Trailhead)

The Black Canyon of the Yellowstone is a low-elevation stretch of the river on Yellowstone’s northern range, with rock slides, waterfalls, and a suspension bridge between Gardiner and the Blacktail Deer Plateau. Hiking Project calls it “one of the best early season routes in Yellowstone” because of its low elevation.

This version starts in Montana, at Eagle Creek Campground on the Custer Gallatin National Forest just outside Gardiner, and follows the Yellowstone River Trail upstream into the park.

The hike

The Forest Service says the Yellowstone River Trailhead is inside Eagle Creek Campground. Hiking Project describes this end as a Gallatin National Forest trail of about two miles, in good shape, with abandoned mining equipment along Bear Creek. It’s a reroute: the original trail into Gardiner is blocked by private landowners, and the Eagle Creek route adds about 750 feet of climbing.

Counting back from Hiking Project’s mileages, the trail reaches a junction above Bear Creek at about 2 miles and crosses Bear Creek on a footbridge, where old hot spring deposits are visible. Upstream, at roughly 5.7 miles, is what Hiking Project calls the most dramatic part of the hike, a massive rock slide with river views. Knowles Falls, about 15 feet high, comes at roughly 6.9 miles; Hiking Project says it’s named for John Knowles, who prospected illegally in the park in the 1870s and 1880s. Crevice Creek and Crevice Lake follow.

At about 8.7 miles, the Blacktail Deer Creek Trail turns south and crosses the Yellowstone on a 1936 steel suspension bridge. The National Park Service describes that trail as dropping 1,100 feet from the Blacktail Deer Creek Trailhead, 7 miles east of Mammoth, to the bridge. Going this direction, that’s a climb of about four miles to finish, past “Hidden Falls” and columnar basalt. Hiking Project quotes the 1870 Washburn Expedition, which called the canyon “grand, gloomy, and terrible.”

Hiking Project describes the route the other way, from Blacktail to Eagle Creek, with about 1,545 feet of climbing and 2,036 feet of descent in that direction. Others continue upstream past the Blacktail junction toward Hellroaring Creek, where Hiking Project and a 2020 trip report both warn that the Hellroaring Creek ford can be dangerous; a stock bridge upstream adds just under 4 miles.

Bighorn sheep use the canyon in late spring and early fall, and Hiking Project notes grizzlies are frequent near Hellroaring early in the season.

Tips

Get a backcountry permit for any overnight; pick it up in person within two days of your trip (May 15 to October 31).
Arrange the shuttle. Leave a car at Eagle Creek or at the Blacktail Deer Creek Trailhead.
Bring 35 feet of rope for the food pole at your site.
Leave dogs home. Pets aren’t allowed on Yellowstone trails such as Blacktail (NPS).
Carry bear spray, as the park recommends.

Camping

Inside the park, camping is only at designated backcountry sites with a permit. The NPS says about 75% of sites can be reserved on Recreation.gov at least three days ahead (early-access lottery in March; general access for summer opens April 26), and walk-up permits are issued in person up to two days before a trip. Stays are 1 to 3 nights, group limits are 4 to 12 by site, and most sites take one group. Every site has a food pole or box. Outside the park, the Custer Gallatin food storage order covers the Gardiner Ranger District from March 1 to December 1, and Eagle Creek’s sites have bear boxes.

Inside Intel: A Hiking Project user logged two nights at site 1Y1, about 7.5 miles in. On the Hellroaring extension, a 2020 trip report on The Good, the Bad and the RV describes site 1R1 on a grassy bench about 30 feet above the river, with a bear box and a tent area about 100 yards away: “We had a great view of the Yellowstone River from our site.”

Trail facts

Distance: 12.9 miles, Eagle Creek to Blacktail Deer Creek Trailhead (Hiking Project)
Route type: Point to point
Difficulty: Moderate to strenuous
Campsites: Designated Yellowstone backcountry sites along the river (permit)
Water: Yellowstone River, Bear Creek, Crevice Creek, Blacktail Deer Creek; treat it
Permits: Yellowstone backcountry permit required for overnight stays
Bear storage: Food poles or boxes at park sites; Forest Service order outside the park
Dogs: Not allowed on park trails
Trailheads: Eagle Creek Campground (Jardine Road, near Gardiner, Montana); Blacktail Deer Creek Trailhead (Grand Loop Road, 7 miles east of Mammoth)
Last verified: October 10, 2026

The Lowdown

Supper by the river below Knowles Falls:

Black Canyon sites hang food on a park pole, so pick dinners that pack small and leave little trash. See the camp meals backpackers rate.

Read the full guide →

Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.