Phantom Creek Trail #17 is a 9.7 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Roscoe, Montana that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, camping, fishing, fly fishing, and horses and is best used from May until October. Dogs are also able to use this trail but must be kept on leash.
dogs on leash
kid friendly
camping
fishing
hiking
horseback riding
forest
lake
river
wild flowers
wildlife
bugs
I would rate this hike as more difficult than moderate, which is due the path being very narrow in a lot of places and a heavy amount of rocks on the trail. However, the scenery more than made up for the difficulty level!
I wasn't able to get to Phantom Lake (1000yds short) due to deep snow.
Fish were too easy to catch at Phantom lake. We lost the trail just below the lake but made our way to the lake and across to the other end where there was a nice place to set up camp near the water. Only ones up there 4th of July weekend.
Amazing views on this trail. Three moose followed us on the trail for a bit
Definitely a moderate hike, however the elevation change is spread out pretty well. When you reach the second section of switchbacks be careful, you can easily miss the turn off for the lake. If you continue up these switchbacks you are heading up the trail to Mystic Lake. There is a tower of stones to help guide you to Phantom Lake. Very pretty area with nice views of the valley and lots of small creeks throughout the trail even through August. We ran into several groups during our day hike with a few being backpackers hiking through.
Beautiful hike it's a must
Great challenging hike. I would say due to the vertical this should def be an intermediate hike. Beautiful scenery!
Slough Lake is merely a pit stop about 2.5 miles along the Phantom Creek Trail; go 7 miles (one way) and you are on top of Froze-to-Death plateau where you can see Mystic Lake, Island Lake and Silver Lake. While Slough Lake is an easy +125ft gain getting to the top is a more demanding hike with a +4000ft gain.
LOVED this hike. It was beautiful and remote and not too crowded at all. I didn't bring my fishing rod, but I wished I had. Even on a hot day, much of the trail was shady and cool. The first part of the hike is a steady uphill climb, but it evens out the closer you get to the lake. Perfect day hike.
This is a fairly easy trail that leads to a beautiful calm, clear lake. What a nice place to have a picnic or do a little fishing.
Scenic, dog friendly, easy trail that ends on a small lake. It was 85 degrees out and there was still plenty of snow to plow though in the last mile.
easy hike to a small lake. good views along the way