Cascade Lake Trail

Dogs No Dogs

Features Lake · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

This short trail begins near the Cascade Lake Picnic Area, north of Canyon Village, and ends on the north shore of lovely Cascade Lake. From there, visitors can fish, climb Observation Peak for great views of the surrounding area, or continue on the Howard Eaton Trail to Grebe and Wolf lakes.

This is the shortest and best route to Cascade Lake. The first .3 miles the trail travels through dense lodgepole forests then drops to cross a small meadow. It then bends left and enters an area heavily burned by the 1988 fires. Soon you break out into a large beautiful meadow and travel along its north side, next to the treeline, for more than a 1/2 mile.

At the 1.3-mile mark the trail passes a junction with the Cascade Creek Trail (on the left). Turn right and continue through the fire-burned forests another .4 miles and enter a second large meadow. The trail continues across the meadow and ends on the north side of Cascade Lake at a junction with the Howard Eaton Trail and the Observation Peak Trail. Nearby is campsite 4E4.

Nice-sized Cascade Lake has a surface area of 36 acres and a maximum depth of 36 feet. Fishing is good for native Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout and Arctic Grayling planted here from a fish hatchery at Grebe Lake (2 miles further west). These two lakes are some of the only ones in Yellowstone that sport populations of highly sought-after, large dorsal-finned grayling.

Thanks to guidebook author, Tom Carter, for sharing this trail description. To learn more about visiting Yellowstone, check out his book, Day Hiking Yellowstone.

Good opportunities to view buffalo, moose (near the lake), and wildflowers (in the meadows).