Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 1 9 14 KIYO CRAG LAKE (2.4 MILES) e dramatic Rocky Mountain Front is spectacularly showcased on the hike to this scenic mountain pool. e lake sits in a gorgeous basin beneath rocky buttes and cliffs up to 1,000 feet high. Despite the superb scenery and reasonably close proximity to Great Falls, only a handful of people visit every year. e trail begins near the former site of Palookaville (a great name, although there's nothing left to see). From Heart Butte in the Black- feet Indian Reservation, go 10 miles northwest on Heart Butte Road, turn left on Heart Butte Cutoff (BIA 2), and proceed 2.1 miles to an unsigned junction. Turn left on a very rough dirt road (good clearance helps), passing through two gates before entering national forest land and reaching a fork at 4.1 miles. Turn left to reach the Mettler Coulee trailhead. After a bridgeless crossing of North Fork Little Badger Creek, the sometimes sketchy trail heads up a scenic, partly forested valley to an unnamed waterfall. From there, a bit more climbing finds you in a beautiful high basin where you go right at a junction and contour for 0.2 mile to the lake. A marshy shoreline makes camping problematic, but the tall cliffs behind the lake are awe inspiring and the fishing is usually excellent. LAKE 9600 (3.1 TO 5.9 MILES, DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU PARK) e mountains of southwestern Montana hide countless des- tinations worthy of "secret getaway" status. But if true isolation is what you crave, then head for the remote Italian Peaks. A favorite destina- tion here is Lake 9600 (it's so secret it doesn't even have an official name) at the base of strikingly orange-colored Eighteenmile Peak. By any standard, this pool is one of the most beautiful places in Montana that virtually no one ever sees. From exit 23 off Interstate 15 at Dell, go 1.8 miles southeast on the Westside Frontage Road, then turn right and drive 17 miles on gravel Big Sheep Creek Road. Following signs to Nicholia Creek, you go left at two quick junctions and then drive an increasingly rough road for 7 miles to a ford of shallow Cottonwood Creek. About 0.5 mile later is a junction. (Park here if your car lacks power or good ground clearance.) Turn right and steeply climb a rocky route for 1.3 miles to a junction. (Park here if you don't have four-wheel drive.) Go right again, ford a ditch, and then climb for 0.9 mile to First Harkness Lake. (Park here if you drove a tank.) e unsigned route skirts the south side of the Harkness Lakes (good fishing) then intersects the Continental Divide Trail, which here doubles as a jeep road. Turn right (north) following the road past ponds and fences to a hop-over crossing of Cottonwood Creek below a large meadow. Just after the road turns sharply left, angle left onto an unsigned path that goes 0.6 mile to a spring and watering trough. Moose and elk are abundant hereabouts. From the spring you go cross-country through open forest first down to then up along Cot- tonwood Creek to the fishless lake. EXTRA CREDIT SECRET: Consider making the steep but non-technical climb of Eighteenmile Peak. e views extend for over 50 miles and are absolutely incredible. Helena Great Falls Kalispell Missoula Miles City Butte Bozeman Billings 93 2 2 87 191 2 212 12 191 287 93 12 212 90 90 90 15 15 94 5 4 3 2 1 1 Skiumah Lake 2 Kiyo Crag Lake 3 Lake 9600 4 Tumbledown Basin 5 Line Creek Plateau Kiyo Crag Lake CONTINUED

• Cover