Yellowstone NP, WY – Fawn Pass and Fan Creek Trails are located in the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park. The Fawn Pass Trailhead is reached by traveling north from West Yellowstone on US 191 until just before the milepost 22. Watch for a sign indicating the Fawn Pass Trailhead on the eastern side of the road. This hike is included in Bill Schneider’s Falcon Guide: Hiking Yellowstone National Park- A Guide to More than 100 Great Hikes.
One of the bridges over the Gallatin River on Fawn Pass Trail
From the parking lot, the Fawn Pass Trail climbs down to the meadow level and heads east crossing numerous small bridges over the Gallatin River and wet areas. On the other side of the meadow the trail climbs slightly and travels through sagebrush and forest to a junction at 1.3 miles with the Fan Creek Trail. The left trail travels to Fan Creek and its valley while Fawn Pass Trail continues to the right. Turn left to reach Fan Creek. You can hike upstream any distance up to 6.1 miles from the trailhead, which is the confluence of North and East Fan Creeks. There is a ford of Fan Creek at mile 3.
Gallatin River from Fawn Pass Trail
Fawn Pass Trail travels through sagebrush and pine
Fan Creek Trail just after the junction with Fawn Pass
We opted to day hike to Fan Creek and turn around by the ford for a six mile hike. The scenery is outstanding along the route. According to Bill Schneider, author of our hiking guide, Fan Creek is a great fishing stream for rainbow trout. The area is home to abundant elk and moose, who are best spotted early or late in the day. We didn’t see them, but we saw tracks and scat.
From Fan Creek Trail
View of the Fan Creek Valley
While visiting Yellowstone National Park this trip, we stayed at the Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park in West Yellowstone, Montana. We also hiked a number of other trails including:
- Riddle Lake
- Chain of Lakes (Cascade, Grebe, and Wolf)
- Gneiss Creek
- Pebble Creek
- Rescue Creek
- Black Canyon of the Yellowstone Backpack Overnight Trip: (Hellroaring, Yellowstone River Trail, Blacktail Deer Creek Trail)
- Upper Gallatin River/ Bighorn Pass Trail
- Nez Perce Creek (western section of the Mary Mountain Trail)
During prior trips to Yellowstone we’ve also hiked:
- Artist Paintpots, Yellowstone River Picnic Area/Specimen Ridge, Rescue Creek, Trout Lake, Slough Creek, Beaver Ponds, Hellroaring Creek, Mary Mountain Trail, Pelican Creek, Fairy Falls
- Mount Washburn, Bunsen Peak, and Elephant Back
- Garnett Hill Loop, Pelican Valley, Snow Mesa/Hoodoos Loop, Lonestar Geyser, Clear Lake/Ribbon Lake/Wapiti Loop
