Slough Creek Trail is a 20.3 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming that features a lake and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from May until September. Horses are also able to use this trail.
backpacking
birding
camping
canoeing
fishing
fly fishing
hiking
whitewater kayaking
horseback riding
lake
river
views
wild flowers
wildlife
no dogs
Slough Creek Trail travels from Slough Creek Campground in Yellowstone National Park to the north boundary of the park. It follows the Slough Creek through mostly broad, open, grassy meadows the whole way. It junctions with the Buffalo Fork Trail at the First Meadow (2 miles) and then at the Bliss Pass Trail (8 miles). Numerous back country sites are available - reserve them ahead of time at a ranger station.
We spent three days hiking along the Slough Creek Trail, the first to campsite 2S3 about five and a half miles in and then backtracking about a mile for the second night at campsite 2S2. Both had easy-to-access water sources but campsite 2S3 had a particularly impressive view of the plateau/river and I'd definitely recommend staying there. The hike to the farther campsite took a little more than two hours.
The trail is fairly flat (save for the first 1/3 mile, but it's nothing crazy) and well maintained. We saw wildflowers, buffalo, deer and several different types of birds (and some horse and buggy travelers). I thought this was a popular trail but we hardly saw anyone during our three days on Slough Creek. Despite the extreme midday heat in early July and the mosquitoes/flies (plan accordingly and bring DEET), I would definitely recommend this trail for backpackers of all levels.
Beautiful and well maintained! A little challenging at first but definitely worth it.
Great hike for viewing wildlife! Encountered bears on the hike in and on the hike out.
A gorgeous trail! I highly recommend camping out here because the two campsites we stayed at are some of the most beautiful places in the park. This is a wildlife heavy section of the park so be aware. We saw everything from a skunk to a grizzly bear!
A very good tail for wildlife. We saw bisons, deer and a fox in the trail.
Awesome trail to end Yellowstone on. Much less crowded than most of the trails on the West side. Most of the trail is through sagebrush fields which allow you to see the valley around you and the mountains in the distance. I went in end of June and mosquitoes were negligible. Coming face to face with a couple bison on the trail and a juvenile grizzly slowed the progress, but were (obviously) worth it.
This was our first day in the park. A bit of an uphill at first, but levels out at the meadow. Beautiful scenery, some not new bear sign, a few buffalo. Don't drink from the river, found a deer carcass trapped under water.
Love Slough Creek trail. Uphill on wagon road initially, but the rest is an amble through open meadows with Slough Creek winding along the middle. Beautiful with the mountains (Beartooth?) as backdrop. A few fishermen/women, but otherwise lightly traveled. A favorite during my summer in Yellowstone.
Slough Creek is used a lot by Fly fisherman up to the ox bow in the creek. It is an old wagon road that goes all the way to a land bound ranch just north of the park. Once you get past where the fly fisherman stop it opens to a beautiful meadow, continue and you will come to a second meadow. Take your camera and take your bear spray. Yellowstone workers like going into the backcountry camping on this trail. Great Views, a must do in Yellowstone.