Hilgard Basin via Sentinel Creek

Lee Metcalf Wilderness (Taylor-Hilgard Unit), Custer Gallatin National Forest (Potamogeton Park Trailhead off Beaver Creek Road, near Hebgen Lake)

Hilgard Basin sits below Hilgard Peak, which Big Sky Walker calls the high point of the Madison Range, in the Taylor-Hilgard unit of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness north of Hebgen Lake. Backpacker’s 2011 guide sends you “straight to the best camping” on a 17.4-mile out-and-back, ending at a cluster of alpine lakes.

The approach climbs Sentinel Creek from Beaver Creek Road, which was closed during the 2025 West Fork Fire. Read the notice before you go.

The hike

Backpacker’s directions start at the Potamogeton Park trailhead, 4.5 miles up the gravel Beaver Creek Road, which leaves US 287 about 10 miles west of the US 191 junction. The trail crosses Beaver Creek on a bridge at the wilderness boundary, 0.2 mile in, then climbs through forest and meadows. Backpacker marks the first meadow at mile 2.5, first open views of the Madison Range at mile 4.4, a large meadow just beyond, and an avalanche-chute runout at mile 5.9, where the author saw fresh grizzly tracks the year before.

Less than a mile past the chute, the trail leaves the forest. Sentinel Creek, which tumbles beside the trail lower down, is a trickle by its headwaters at mile 7.3. Backpacker describes crossing an exposed pass and switchbacking down about half a mile to Expedition Lake, “the first of the basin’s many prime campsites,” then a turn of just over 0.2 mile to Crag Lake. SummitPost describes the same approach by trail number: Trail 202 up Sentinel Creek toward Expedition Pass, then Trail 201 south from a spring-fed meadow past a string of alpine lakes into Hilgard Basin. It calls the Sentinel Creek stretch “fairly strenuous.”

From camp, Backpacker suggests a side trip to Echo Peak: about 1.3 miles to the saddle and 0.7 mile to the summit, with 1,700 feet of gain, passing Thunderbolt Lake on a cross-country route. SummitPost asks visitors to choose campsites carefully because the basin is a delicate ecosystem.

The 2025 fire changed the approach. A Forest Service update on August 21, 2025, put the West Fork Fire just north of the Beaver Creek cabin, growing north to Lightning Lake, and the closure order that day covered Beaver Creek Road and nine trails, including 202 from the road to Expedition Pass and all of 201. Big Sky Walker, who climbed Hilgard Peak in September 2025, wrote that rangers told him the Beaver Creek road was closed for the fire, so he approached from the Papoose Creek side instead. The September 24 order kept only Trail 200 closed.

For another Madison Range overnight closer to Bozeman, see Spanish Creek to Mirror Lake.

Tips

Ask about the burn before you drive up Beaver Creek Road.
Hang food well away from camp. Backpacker calls the area prime bear country and says to keep food at least 100 feet from where you sleep and cook.
Plan for exposure. Backpacker describes the pass as exposed, with steep climbs on both sides.
Fill up lower. Backpacker notes Sentinel Creek shrinks to a trickle near its headwaters.

Camping

No permit is reported for the Lee Metcalf Wilderness. The Greater Yellowstone Area wilderness order limits groups to 15 people and stays to 16 days at one location (within five miles), and bans caching gear and shortcutting switchbacks. The Custer Gallatin food storage order covers the Hebgen Lake Ranger District from March 1 to December 1: food and scented items must be attended, hung at least 10 feet up and 4 feet from the trunk, or kept in a certified bear-resistant container.

Inside Intel: Backpacker’s guide recommends the shoreline sites at Expedition Lake and a secluded camp on the east shore of Crag Lake, shielded by whitebark pine. Either works as a base for the Echo Peak scramble.

Trail facts

Distance: 17.4 miles round trip (Backpacker)
Route type: Out and back
Difficulty: Strenuous
Campsites: Dispersed; Expedition Lake and Crag Lake in Hilgard Basin
Water: Beaver Creek, Sentinel Creek, lakes and tundra streams; treat it
Permits: None reported
Bear storage: Required March 1 to December 1
Trailhead: Potamogeton Park, Beaver Creek Road (FS 985) off US 287
Last verified: October 10, 2026

The Lowdown

Tundra camp beside Expedition Lake:

Hilgard Basin camps sit above treeline on rocky, cold ground after a long climb. See the sleeping pads reviewers like for alpine nights.

See what testers chose →

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.