High Country Life

Mountain lakes draw swimmers seeking a refreshing dip during summer heatwaves and backcountry campers seeking a scenic stayover. Their glassy surfaces welcome campers looking for relaxation.

High Country’s lake ecosystems depend on your generosity to thrive, so take a trip up into the mountains to view how your gifts have made a difference in our pristine lakes ecosystems.

High Country offers incredible outdoor scenery ranging from cascading waterfalls and scenic overlooks to year-round activities for outdoor enthusiasts.

Waterfalls

Waterfalls are breathtaking displays of nature’s magnificence as their fluid surge cascades over rugged granite cliffs and through tree-lined bowls. Waterfalls make an excellent focal point for hiking trails or swimming holes; many great spots in the High Country provide spectacular waterfall views during spring and summer when their full flow can be found there.

Ladies Bath Pool Falls on Crystal Brook near Mount Buffalo is a favorite spot for cooling off. These cascades lure swimmers with peaceful waters crafted by glaciers. Both locals and visitors flock here during hot summer days for an exhilarating swim or kayak session, or to take an enjoyable scenic walk beneath these waterfalls.

Visitors of the park can also admire these spectacular waterfalls from an observation platform and picnic area, or with just a short stroll from their parking lot to an adorable bridge with benches, which provide visitors with ample opportunity to stop and gaze in wonder.

Hebron Colony Falls offer an exciting waterfall experience, cascading through an eye-catching rock garden. Perfect for kids and adults alike, Hebron Colony Falls features both calm channels and fast moving waters where swimmers can safely float away on currents.

The sound of falling water can be heard from the parking lot, where picnic tables and shade trees provide the ideal setting to enjoy lunch. Reaching the falls requires an approximately one mile round trip hike on an exceptionally well maintained trail with built in steps to make the ascent less steep.

At its height of the season, Hebron Colony Falls can be especially scenic during a hike. The vibrant foliage bursts with color while sunlight sparkles off its waters to create an idyllic scene.

Lakes

Mountain lakes reflect their surroundings in their reflective surfaces like mirrors. Their water surfaces offer stunning reflections that attract hikers looking for refreshment after long treks or provide tranquil retreats for backcountry campers. Swimming enthusiasts and shoreline viewers find this natural sanctuary attractive; but natural hazards and cold waters make swimming here dangerous and unpredictable.

Mountain lakes of the Western US contain numerous hidden gems stocked with trout to delight anglers. To experience them properly, use a topographical map such as DeLorme’s Montana Atlas & Gazetteer as it contains detailed maps that help locate primitive roads and trails; alternatively “Flyfisherman’s Guide to Southwest Montana’s Mountain Lakes,” by Joshua Bergan is a good reference, covering 250 lakes in Beartooths, Absarokas and Gallatin Ranges.

Mountain lakes serve as vital indicators of Alpine environments’ ecological well-being, serving as key indicators. Lakes can often be sensitive to climate change, receding glaciers, UV radiation exposure and long-range transport of contaminants; over time this may result in the loss of biodiversity due to weed growth and algal blooms compromising them.

Mountain lakes offer much more than beauty: their waters provide vital habitats for native aquatic species and migrating birds alike, serving as hydrological indicators and storage facilities in Alpine ecosystems.

Tourism and recreation activities in these pristine environments can have positive outcomes, yet must be balanced against potential ecological disturbances. Therefore, understanding and protecting these fragile, natural ecosystems against emerging threats is of vital importance. Monitoring efforts provide crucial data on understanding health of high mountain lakes as well as their response to changes in their surroundings – all key components for developing successful conservation strategies.

Rivers

High Country lakes and rivers provide the perfect combination of adventure, sport, and relaxation. From fishing for trout in an alpine lake to meandering leisurely down a soothing stream, these bodies of water offer thrills, chills, relaxation, leisurely picnics and family swims as well as inspiring hikes; others allow hikers to discover historic mountain trails or ski down mountain slopes at alpine resorts.

Yosemite National Park boasts more than 2,000 lakes that glitter at the base of granite peaks, rest in tree-lined bowls and dot subalpine meadows. Lakes serve an important function in Yosemite’s Alpine environment by reflecting both natural and human-caused changes, serving as indicators of environmental health – your donation helps restore and preserve these treasured lake ecosystems.

Some high-country gems can be found close to roads and trails, while others lie deeper within remote, wilderness areas. Access is usually achieved by backpacking several miles or traveling on horseback or llamas; fishing high lakes is quite unique as most don’t open until late summer and remain accessible only for several months at a time.

Tumbling streams converge into shimmering lakes throughout the Boone Area, drawing visitors out camping or canoeing and kayaking or canoeing to kayak, canoe, canoe, boating and swimming for aquatic adventures. Many lakeshore trails – including Blue Ridge Parkway’s Bass Lake with its handicap accessible path – offer enjoyable strolls by the shore during all four seasons: witness sunlight sparkling off multicolored leaves in fall while listening to pikas peck among rocks in spring/summer; as winter draws near, trails lead to snow-covered peaks where fishing starts in winter ice fishing can also starts!

Wildlife

Colorado’s High Country lakes provide the perfect home for fish and wildlife alike, reflecting both landscape and environment, with abundant aquatic plants such as Alpine plants on lakeside talus fields. Fishable lakes can be found across most alpine ranges; those interested in hiking will also frequent many lakeside trails throughout Colorado’s High Country.

Waterfalls may make for dramatic scenes, but lakes are what truly define and sustain the high-country aquatic world. Each lake shapes the landscape, provides nourishment to its basin, and mirrors the beauty of its mountain surroundings.

Yosemite Valley boasts more than 2,000 lakes that glimmer among its mountains, glaciers and rock walls. Many can be reached within walking distance from roads or trailheads, while those exploring more remote corners will discover liquid gems hidden away in wilderness cirques and bowls. These lakes represent remnants of glacial activity which ended 12,000 years ago; most are less than 20 acres in size with three quarters being no deeper than 30 feet deep (Tiberti et al. 2014; Pastorino et al. 2019a).

Lakes provide habitats for both brook and cutthroat trout species, feeding off of an array of aquatic insects such as chironomids, callibaetis, damselflies, dragonflies and leeches. Furthermore, high country lakes also contain other inhabitants including muskrats, beavers, otter and crayfish – further contributing to their diversity and ecosystem services.

Wildlife watching in the High Country is an enjoyable pastime, and its forest ecosystem teems with healthy populations of bighorn sheep, moose, mule deer, elk, wild turkeys, black bears and mountain lions. Beavers and sage grouse also reside here.

Joshua Bergan’s “Flyfisher’s Guide to Montana’s Mountain Lakes” provides an indispensable overview of Montana’s mountain lakes. Covering over 250 high-country lakes from Yellowstone National Park all the way south through to Pioneer Mountains and Gallatin Range in southwest Montana, this book features stories, lessons learned, historical anecdotes, and much more – making this book an indispensable tool for exploring Montana’s mountain lakes.