Yellowstone NP, WY – The Upper Gallatin River Valley is accessed along Bighorn Pass Trail in the northwest section of Yellowstone National Park. From West Yellowstone, head north to between mile markers 20 and 21 and turn east onto the unpaved access road to the Bighorn Pass Trailhead. The access road is about 1/4 mile in length. There is a sign indicating the start of the trail. This hike is included in Bill Schneider’s Falcon Guide: Hiking Yellowstone National Park- A Guide to More than 100 Great Hikes.
Bighorn Pass Trailhead
From the trailhead sign, the trail travels through sagebrush, pine forest, and meadows. After about 1/4 mile on the trail there is a log crossing (wide log which has been hewn flat by the national park service) and a short footbridge over the Upper Gallatin River. After crossing the river, the trail travels along the northern side of the valley within varying distances of the river.
Bighorn Pass Trail passes sagebrush and pine
Upper Gallatin River
The trail travels along the river
Log crossing on a small side channel of the Upper Gallatin River
Footbridge on the Upper Gallatin
The trail crosses an open meadow along the valley
This is a relatively flat trail gaining about 300 feet over the first 6 miles, though the trail is mildly undulating resulting in slightly more gain. There are great views of the river and of Bighorn Pass, which can be reached via this trail in about 11 miles and 1,900 feet of elevation gain from the trailhead. This is a long, open meadow which is known for fishing (trout) and elk watching early morning and evening. We spotted a mule deer at the trailhead, heard an elk bugle during our first half mile and saw lots of other wildlife sign including tracks and bear scat. This was a great day hike, we traveled a little over 4 miles up the valley for an 8 mile round trip.
Upper Gallatin River Valley
The Upper Gallatin River
A horseshoe bend on the river
Looking up the valley
Another valley view looking toward Bighorn Pass
Looking back toward the trailhead
Upper Gallatin River
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
- Fawn Pass/Fan Creek
- Rescue Creek
- Black Canyon of the Yellowstone Backpack Overnight Trip: (Hellroaring, Yellowstone River Trail, Blacktail Deer Creek Trail)
- Pebble Creek
- Nez Perce Creek (western 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
