Tenmile Lakes

Trail Details

Miles
7.75 Round Trip

Elevation Gain
1141ft

Difficulty Level
Moderate

Trailhead Coordinates
High Clearance Vehicles
46.023778, -113.104667
* Google maps does not give accurate directions – do not rely on them! Reference these coordinates while looking at a road map.

Trail Description

NOTE: The second lake borders private land – read the description to make sure you stay on public land.

Tenmile Lakes in the Anaconda-Pintler Mountains is a great hike featuring two alpine lakes and outstanding rocky mountain views. This trailhead is only accessible to high clearance vehicles. We believe it would not be a good choice for standard clearance as the road gets extremely rutted and rough not too far from Dry Creek Road. I would also suggest downloading offline Google maps or a GPS to make sure you take the right roads (Google Maps doesn’t recognize the trailhead road so take a look at the trailhead via Google Satellite view).

Once at the trailhead, make sure you do not follow the trail that has a big ditch in front! This is not the trail, and we didn’t realize it until a mile and a half or so down the trail the weekend prior. When facing the trailhead with a big ditch, turn right and go up the hill that has a big clearance. You should see a path to follow. The beginning of this trail starts to pick up elevation pretty quickly. The forests are fairly open and extremely beautiful on a bright day. The trail itself seems to not be traveled frequently – a soft trail with pine needles covering the path. You will eventually cross the Continental Divide Trail -do not take a turn onto this trail – cross to the other side. From here on out you pick up a little more elevation and up onto the ridge. The hiking is fairly easy once on top before you descend down to the first Tenmile lake. There are amazing views from both of the lakes, I imagine once the lake has thawed a little more you would have a great reflection of the northside valley cliffs. To continue to the second Tenmile lake, stay left of the first lake and you should see a path that continues to the second lake. We recommend staying on the left side (rocky slope side) to stay on public land as part of this lake’s shoreline is on private land. If you climb up on the rocky slope, you will have breathtaking views of the northside cliffs. A beautiful spot despite the rough trailhead road and confusing trailhead!