Montana trails · Lake Fork
Lake Fork
A 9.3-mile out-and-back in Montana, with 3,876 ft of climbing. Reaches Sundance Pass and other lake/pass destinations. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Elevation profile
Most of the climbing sits in the final third — 55% of the ascent, between mile 6.2 and mile 9.4. It climbs almost continuously, with little descent to recover on.
3-D terrain
USGS 3DEP ELEVATION × ESRI WORLD IMAGERY · VERTICAL ×1.5
Reaches
- Sundance Pass (pass)
- Broadwater Lake (lake)
- September Morn Lake (lake)
- Lost Lake (lake)
Heads up
Getting there
LAKE FORK — parking nearby, restroom, water. About 2 h 36 min drive (135 mi) from Livingston. 45.07917, -109.41056 · directions
Daylight at the trailhead
On October 14, 2026 — the day this page was generated — first light reaches this trailhead at 7:02 a.m., the sun rises at 7:31 a.m. and sets at 6:34 p.m., and the last usable light fades about 7:04 p.m. (MDT) — 11 h 03 min of daylight. At about 2.7 mph plus 30 minutes per 1,000 feet of climbing, the 18.7-mile round trip takes roughly 10 h 48 min, so leaving the trailhead at sunrise puts you back around 6:20 p.m. — 15 min before sunset.
Nearby trails
- West Fork Rock Creek — 7.4 mi
- East Rosebud — 13.7 mi