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A great day run to a set of beautiful mountain-ringed lakes.


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Map Key

5.7

Miles

9.1

KM

86%

Runnable

9,222' 2,811 m

High

7,122' 2,171 m

Low

2,109' 643 m

Up

14' 4 m

Down

7%

Avg Grade (4°)

26%

Max Grade (15°)

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Lake · River/Creek · Swimming · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Runers share this trail with mountain bikers and equestrian users, on certain days of the week, so take that into consideration for your planning.

Description

Park at the large dirt trailhead and set out for a mellow climb that switchbacks up the somewhat wide yet very featured and craggy Emerald Lake valley. You'll climb through coniferous forest, next to the bubbling East Fork Hyalite Creek, across lush meadows abundant with wildflowers and ultimately reach the top of the basin and the sparkling Emerald Lake.

Dispersed camping is an option here if you've brought camping gear to spend the night. If time permits, carefully make your way another 0.9 miles beyond Emerald Lake up to Heather Lake for even more solitude. Return the way you came which is essentially a peaceful, carefree downhill back toward civilization.

Contacts

Shared By:

Sam H with improvements by Steven R

Trail Ratings

  4.8 from 6 votes

#843

Overall
  4.8 from 6 votes
5 Star
83%
4 Star
17%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%
Trail Rankings

#20

in Montana

#843

Overall
6 Views Last Month
6,643 Since Apr 23, 2015
Intermediate Intermediate

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Photos

Emerald Lake
Aug 5, 2017 near Bozeman, MT
Trail between Emerald and Heather lakes.
Aug 5, 2017 near Bozeman, MT
Heather Lake
Aug 5, 2017 near Bozeman, MT
Emerald Lake
May 15, 2019 near Bozeman, MT
Looking for fish in Emerald Lake
Dec 6, 2019 near Bozeman, MT
"Snow Survey109.jpg" by USDA NRCS Montana (https://tinyurl.com/uojl4jy), Flickr licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/).
Dec 6, 2019 near Bozeman, MT

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