Spend three days exploring Montana’s backcountry on this all-women backpacking adventure in the Beartooth Mountains! If you’ve got no backpacking experience, no worries, you’re still welcome, but keep in mind that great fitness is a must for this trail. Your guide provides you with expert leadership, meals, cooking equipment, and can provide you with tents and sleeping bags. You will follow the 14-mile Mystic Lake Trail over three days. You will learn important outdoor skills (such as Leave No Trace as well as local geology and history) and even spot exciting wildlife, such as moose, deer, elk, or marmots! Ready for a journey full of serenity and peacefulness of the great outdoors?
Starting from the Mystic Lake trailhead at 6,500 ft at 8am, we will hike along the scenic mystic river valley, a drainage of the Beartooth Mountains. We will reach Mystic Lake, which is where we’ll set up our camp and spend the night.
Distance: 5 miles / 8 km
Elevation gain: 1,000 ft / 305 m
Meals: Dinner
Let’s pack up and start hiking again. From Mystic Lake, we will enjoy a gorgeous hike to Princess Lake—this is a day marked by a remote alpine lake, quietness, and wildlife seeings. There’s also an option to explore and day hike to Avalanche Lake.
Distance: 2 miles / 3.2 km
Elevation gain: 1,400 ft / 427 m
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
For our last day on the trek, we will hike from Princess Lake to the trailhead. Expect to return around 3pm.
Distance: 7 miles / 11.2 km
Elevation gain: 500 ft / 152 m
Elevation loss: 1,400 ft / 427 m
Meals: Breakfast
Included:
Add-ons:
Not included:
This all-women Beartooth Mountains backpacking adventure has several different options for a backpacking trip, but in general, decent shape is certainly required. Below you will find a breakdown of trails, their distances, and required fitness levels.
West Fork Loop Trail
Mystic Lake Trail
Timberline Lake Trail
If you feel like carrying a heavy backpack would be too exhausting for you, your guides have the option of hiring a porter who would carry it for you. If you’re interested, let us know.
Here’s a list of the equipment you need to bring:
Dress comfortably and for the weather in clothes you can move in. We suggest bringing clothing appropriate for the season. Layers are best and don’t wear jeans.
Indeed you can! You can rent a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and a backpack with your guides. You can register your interest upon checkout.
Group sizes and prices:
Beartooth Mountains backpacking can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.
Min. age requirements:
If your group has hikers under the age of 18, contact us prior to booking to make arrangements.
To get to Red Lodge, Montana, the starting point of your all-women backpacking trip, it’s best to fly into Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport (BZN) and Billings Logan International Airport (BIL). It takes one to two hours to reach Red Lodge from these two airports by car. There’s also the option of flying into Jackson Hole Airport (JAC), from which there’s a 5-hour drive to Red Lodge.
Regardless of the trail you choose, you will meet your guide a day prior to Day 1 of the trip in Red Lodge. There will be a mandatory gear check at 4pm, ensuring that you’ve got everything necessary for the adventure ahead!
We highly recommend that you cover all your bases with both medical and travel protection. To make your booking and traveling experience as carefree as possible, simply choose Redpoint—the official 57hours insurance partner!
Redpoint tailors their protection packages for adventure travel, offering a comprehensive travel program, even in remote locations. Trip cancellation, natural disasters, pandemic coverage, medical evacuation, primary medical expenses—regardless of the travel interruption that may happen, Redpoint will have you covered.
Once your booking is confirmed and your trip is paid in full, you will be offered to purchase Redpoint’s protection. If you need any help or require more information, let us know and we will be happy to help!