Buffalo, WY: Seven Brothers Lakes
Take your pick of campsites near several spectacular tarns.
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For a relaxing weekend getaway, try this 11.2-mile out-and-back to a string of subalpine lakes in Bighorn National Forest. Follow the road 1.2 miles from your car to Seven Brothers Trail. Ford North Clear Creek and cross Buffalo Park, a lush meadow bisected by an aspen-lined stream. Go straight at a junction on the meadow’s far side to enter the Cloud Peak Wilderness.
Climb steadily over several hills, then take a long ridgetop walk to the first lake in the chain. From here, the main trail wanders through stands of spruce and fir to spur trails leading to the second and third lakes, then over a hill to the fourth lake. Follow its south shore to the fifth lake, then top a grassy knoll for a suburb view of the sixth and largest lake, framed by rugged domes. Camping isn’t allowed past this point, but a path leads up to the last lake, nestled in a wooded valley.
Info: fs.fed.us/r2/bighorn
-Hike adapted from Hiking Wyoming’s Cloud Peak Wilderness, by Erik Molvar (FalconGuide)
Waypoints
Parking Area
Location: 44.334255, -106.9734907