Beartooth High Lakes: Island Lake to Night, Beauty and Native Lakes

Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness area, Shoshone National Forest (Island Lake Trailhead on the Beartooth Highway, US 212)

The Beartooth High Lakes Trail crosses the Wyoming side of the Beartooth Plateau, a high, open landscape of granite and lakes just off the Wyoming stretch of the Beartooth Highway (US 212). Teton Hiking Trails puts the Island Lake Trailhead at 9,482 feet, so even the first night’s camp is high.

Because the trail barely climbs, it’s an easy way into the plateau, and it connects to a web of lakes for longer trips.

The hike

From the Island Lake Trailhead, Teton Hiking Trails describes the High Lakes Trail (#620) circling the south end of Island Lake, crossing its outlet on rocks and following the west shore. Just under 0.9 mile in, it leaves the lake and heads north to Night Lake, reaching its northwestern tip at about 1.6 miles. Lonesome Mountain (11,399 feet) is in view to the north-northwest much of the way.

The trail continues past an unnamed tarn to the Beauty Lake Trail (#621) junction at just over 2.8 miles; a short walk left leads to a spur toward Beauty Lake’s northeastern shore. Teton Hiking Trails gives the round trip to Beauty Lake as 6.3 miles with only about 410 feet of climbing, and says the route is open and exposed to sun, wind and weather. The Beauty Lake Trail continues to the Beartooth Lake Trailhead, about 5.6 miles one way from Island Lake, which makes a point-to-point option with a short shuttle on the highway.

A 2022 trip report on Backcountry Post by Mountain Wanderer shows how far the lakes go. That group of five started at Island Lake, camped just past Night Lake, then hiked past Beartooth Butte and Beauty Lake to camp at Native Lake. From there they crossed rolling meadows to Granite Lake, climbed a steep headwall toward Elaine Lake and camped at Green Lake, then returned to Native Lake and exited over a small pass behind Beartooth Butte to Beartooth Lake. The writer found that “hiking around 10,000 feet is just taxing,” and that the boulder field near Elaine Lake was slick and hazardous in rain.

Teton Hiking Trails says the trail is in “prime bear country.” The 2022 group found grizzly tracks and scat in the meadows near Granite Lake and passed a posted warning about two grizzlies on an elk carcass near the exit trail.

On the Montana side of the same range, the Beaten Path crosses the plateau from East Rosebud to the Clarks Fork near Cooke City.

Tips

Check the highway. US 212 is the only access, and it closes for the winter.
Expect exposure. Teton Hiking Trails warns of sun, wind and weather on the open plateau.
Carry bear spray and know how to use it.
Pace yourself at altitude. The trailhead is near 9,500 feet.
Don’t block the boat ramp at the Island Lake trailhead.

Camping

No permit was reported for overnight trips here. The Shoshone National Forest’s food and attractant storage order (SHO-23-002) applies forest-wide from March 1 to December 1 each year, through December 31, 2026. Food, garbage and scented items must be attended by someone awake and within 100 feet, hung at least 10 feet up and 4 feet from any tree or pole, kept in an IGBC-certified bear-resistant container, or locked in a hard-sided vehicle. Camping is prohibited within 100 yards of a properly stored carcass or within a quarter mile of an improperly stored one.

The Greater Yellowstone Area wilderness order (GYCC-7) limits Absaroka-Beartooth groups to 15 people and stays in one location to 16 consecutive days. Island Lake Campground, at the trailhead, has 21 remodeled sites and bear boxes and is typically open late June to early or mid-September.

Inside Intel: Mountain Wanderer’s group camped “just past Night Lake” the first night and later took a zero day at Native Lake, where they camped twice on their eight-day trip. They camped “a few hundred yards from the lake” at Granite Lake for two nights.

Trail facts

Distance: 6.3 miles round trip to Beauty Lake; about 5.6 miles one way to Beartooth Lake (Teton Hiking Trails)
Route type: Out and back, or point to point
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Elevation: Trailhead about 9,482 feet; little net gain
Campsites: Dispersed; Night Lake area and Native Lake used in a 2022 trip report
Water: Lakes and streams throughout; treat it
Permits: None reported
Bear storage: Shoshone NF order SHO-23-002 (hang, IGBC container or hard-sided vehicle)
Dogs: The 2022 trip report group brought dogs; check Forest Service rules
Trailhead: Island Lake Trailhead and Campground, Beartooth Highway (US 212), Wyoming
Last verified: October 17, 2026

The Lowdown

A granite bed on the Beartooth Plateau:

Camps here start near 9,500 feet on an open plateau that Teton Hiking Trails says is exposed to sun, wind and weather. See the sleeping pads backpackers rate for cold, rocky ground.

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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.