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 difficult. The trail is primarily used for hiking, camping, 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.
Beautiful views! Pretty good incline. No snow as far as we went (5 miles) started to snow a little and we couldn’t see the weather coming in over the mountains so turned around. Would do it again in a heartbeat! First Lake, Slough Lake, was unique & shallow, but pretty.
Great trail. Not difficult, just steep in a few spots. made it just past Slough Lake before we ran out of time.
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.
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.
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.