Trout Lake (Wyoming)


Trout Lake, formerly known as Fish Lake and Soda Butte Lake, is a popular backcountry lake for hikers and anglers in Yellowstone National Park. The lake is located approximately north of the Northeast Entrance Road near the confluence of Pebble Creek and Soda Butte Creek. The lake sits in a depression on a high bench above the Soda Butte Creek Canyon. A steep trail through a Douglas fir forest leads to the lake. The trailhead is located at:.
Trout Lake is a popular area for viewing river otter.

Angling

Trout Lake is popular with anglers for its large Yellowstone cutthroat trout and very large rainbow trout and rainbow/cutthroat hybrids. The lake can be easily fished from the shoreline, but many anglers carry in float tubes to access the deeper parts of the lake. Using a float tube on Yellowstone lakes requires a park service boating permit. The lake opens for fishing in mid-June, but a section of the lake near the inlet stream is closed until mid-July to protect spawning Yellowstone cutthroat trout. All cutthroat trout and hybrids caught in Trout Lake must be released.