Chain of Lakes Hike, Yellowstone

Yellowstone NP – The Chain of Lakes hike is a 13 mile, one way, moderately difficult hike that requires a shuttle to return to your original starting point. You essentially hike from Canyon to Norris. The trail visits four lakes along this route, in order: Cascade, Grebe, Wolf, and Ice. We opted to visit the first 3 lakes and Little Gibbon Falls which shortened our hike to 12 miles. We parked one car at the Wolf Lake trailhead and one car at the Cascade Creek Trailhead and hiked the trail from East to West. My Fitbit indicated 170 floors (1700 feet) of elevation, but Karla’s indicated 150 (1500 feet), so let’s call it 160 (1600 feet), which, over 12 miles, is a solid day hike. We found this route in Bill Schneider’s “Falcon Guide: Hiking Yellowstone National Park.”

Our route past Cascade, Grebe and Wolf Lakes and Little Gibbon Falls

We hiked this trail in late August, so water was not much of an issue (just one ford that required getting your feet wet), but earlier in the year I suspect wet feet will be the norm, especially near the lakes and low-lying meadows. Prepare accordingly.

Junctions were well labelled

Start the hike by walking north from the Cascade Creek Trailhead through a lovely meadow, soon entering a stand of pine, spruce and fir trees (which will be your constant companions and provide much needed shade over the next 13 miles). Arrive at a junction with the Howard Eaton Trail after 1.7 miles and head west (left). To the right heads towards the Cascade Lake Trailhead off the loop road north of Canyon.

Mike (near treeline) crosses the meadow at the beginning of Cascade Creek Trail

Lodgepole pines along Cascade Creek Trail

Meadow along Cascade Creek Trail

Another scenic view along the Cascade Creek section

You’ll ascend moderately during this next section, but nothing steep or prolonged. We crossed over the Cascade Creek a few times, but all were easily accomplished by hopping on stones or bridges. 0.9 miles from the prior junction we arrived at Cascade Lake, our first lake of the day. There are a number of backcountry campsites here: 4E2, 4E3, 4E4. All looked nice, but 4E3, situated uphill, had a commanding view of the lake. At the eastern end of the lake is another junction for a trail heading to the top of Observation Peak. This is a trail for another day, so continue walking southwest around the lake.

There were bridges at some crossings enroute to Cascade Lake

The trail travels through diverse terrain

Open meadow just before Cascade Lake

Cascade Lake looking back toward trailhead

The next stretch between trail junctions is fairly long at 3.8 miles. Still on the Howard Eaton Trail, to the north you’ll be hiking around the base of Observation Peak and to the South are great views of the Solfatara Plateau. Look for bison and elk in the meadows. In fact, look for bison on the trail as they commonly use trails as a convenient transportation method for wherever it is that bison go. Near Grebe Lake we passed a couple that mentioned there is a bison on the trail a few miles ahead. Indeed, for the rest of the hike we saw both bison hoof prints and a huge, fresh bison dung pile right on the trail. How do I know it was fresh? I poked a stick in the middle and it was still wet. Don’t judge me.

Section of trail between Cascade and Grebe Lakes

Another section between Cascade and Grebe Lakes

Grebe Lake’s eastern shore

Grebe Lake’s western shore and our trail

Lily pads on the far west section of Grebe Lake

Grebe Lake is the largest of the four lakes, and offers a very nice campsite, 4G3, on the eastern side. Note there is another trail junction here, although unsigned, heading south that is the Grebe Lake Trail, which, after 3.3 miles ends back at the road. But since you don’t have a vehicle parked at the Grebe Lake Trailhead, continue hiking west around the lake, passing 2 more campsites. Arrive at Wolf Lake after 1.5 miles and notice another beautiful campsite, 4G6. From this campsite it’s about 2.4 miles to Ice Lake.

The trail enters a wooded area after Grebe Lake

Near Wolf Lake

Wolf Lake

Another view of Wolf Lake

We had to ford the Gibbon River twice, once at the inlet to Wolf Lake and once at the outlet, a short distance away. The inlet ford was trivial this time of year; the water never went above the tops of my hiking shoes. But the outlet ford was deeper, around calf height, but still an easy ford. There are a number of options for fording a creek/river when you have no choice but to get wet feet. The option I used for many year was to carry dedicated water shoes with me, which guarantees dry shoes on the far side. The downside is the weight and space required, plus the effort to change shoes twice in a short span. The next option many, if not most, thru hikers use is to simply charge full steam ahead and deal with wet shoes and socks the rest of the day. I use a slight modification of this option, which is to remove socks and insoles from my hiking shoes, cross over wearing the shoes, and then drain out water on the far side and put in/on the dry insole and socks. This resulted in moderately wet, but not soaking, feet. I hiked like this for 4 miles after the ford and had zero blisters.

Mike crossing the Gibbon River at the outlet of Wolf Creek

In the next section there is another crossing of the Gibbon River, which we crossed on downed logs. Be on the lookout for the next trail junction, about 2 miles from Wolf Lake. You want the leftmost trail, Wolf Lake Trail, which is labeled Little Gibbon Falls. Shortly after the final crossing of Gibbon River (again on logs), is a nice little send off, less than 1 mile from the end of the hike, a pleasant view of Little Gibbon falls, which drops about 25 feet to the forest floor.