Hellroaring Creek Trail: Short but steep climb down to the bridge and back.
Hike on Sunday, July 20, 2014; reviewed November 28, 2014 See this review on Trip Advisor or the hike details on EveryTrail.
The hike along the Hellroaring Creek trail down to the suspension bridge over the Yellowstone River was suggested by the Ranger at the Tower Ranger Station as one of three great short hikes nearby to Roosevelt Lodge (the other two were the hike out to Lost Lake from the Petrified Tree and the trail from the Yellowstone Picnic Areas trailhead along the Yellowstone River Canyon. We did all three of these hikes in one day during our visit in July 2014. The hike along the Hellroaring Creek trail was our first for the day.
The Hellroaring Creek Trailhead is located a mile or so along an access road that connects from the Grand Loop Road. The access road is about 3.6 miles west of Roosevelt Lodge (half mile west of Floating Island Lake) on the north side of the Grand Loop Road. The access road was in good shape when we visited and there is ample parking as the trailhead.
The Ranger said that we might see pika and black bear particularly along the start of the trail, but they must have missed the scheduling email as none were out this morning. There were lots of birds along the trail, however; Western Tanagers, Bluebirds, Robins, Ravens and Sparrows.
This trail is mostly along the hillside from the trailhead leading down toward the river. The first section, maybe a quarter mile or so is level and mostly wooded but then the trail just falls down the hill via a few switchbacks to the canyon and bridge. I reckon the elevation drop is about 700 feet to the bridge. Great views all along once the trail hits the open slope. The wildflowers were just amazing along the upper part of the trail, but along the lower portion of the trail, it seemed drier and is a bit more wooded, so there was not the explosion of color from the flowers.
The bridge is certainly a marvel, somewhat from an engineering perspective but more so from the fact of where it is located and how difficult it must have been to build, particularly trying to figure out how all the materials were transported to this location. Maybe some of the bigger components were brought in by helicopter? Ever how they did it, my hat is off to the crew that completed this structure.
We could feel the sway in the suspension bridge as we crossed. We opted to stop at the bridge, as we would have a long climb back to the trailhead and we had more that we wanted to see today. Up to this point, we had the trail to ourselves (there was only one other car at the trailhead parking lot when we arrived), but as soon as we recrossed the bridge we met two girls hiking along, and short thereafter two other groups (three young guys and finally a family of four). But that was all, so it was still pretty quiet on the trail for the return hike. The hike back up the hill through the yellow, white and purple wildflowers was great and again we had a few songbirds flitting about. We were back at the trailhead by 9:20 so right at 2 hours for this short (2.8 miles round trip) but by no means easy hike.
I thought this was an excellent trail, but it was good to get an early start to beat the heat as the steep part of the trail is completely exposed (the level part at the start of the trail and again down near the river are wooded, but the areas that require the most work are out in the open!). Remember to bring water, a hat and sunscreen or otherwise cover up. Stout hiking shoes or boots are a good idea as well on the steep sections. This is a hike that I would make in again during future trips to the park as the views are great and the chance for wildlife sightings are pretty high.
The hike along the Hellroaring Creek trail down to the suspension bridge over the Yellowstone River was suggested by the Ranger at the Tower Ranger Station as one of three great short hikes nearby to Roosevelt Lodge (the other two were the hike out to Lost Lake from the Petrified Tree and the trail from the Yellowstone Picnic Areas trailhead along the Yellowstone River Canyon. We did all three of these hikes in one day during our visit in July 2014. The hike along the Hellroaring Creek trail was our first for the day.
The Hellroaring Creek Trailhead is located a mile or so along an access road that connects from the Grand Loop Road. The access road is about 3.6 miles west of Roosevelt Lodge (half mile west of Floating Island Lake) on the north side of the Grand Loop Road. The access road was in good shape when we visited and there is ample parking as the trailhead.
The Ranger said that we might see pika and black bear particularly along the start of the trail, but they must have missed the scheduling email as none were out this morning. There were lots of birds along the trail, however; Western Tanagers, Bluebirds, Robins, Ravens and Sparrows.
This trail is mostly along the hillside from the trailhead leading down toward the river. The first section, maybe a quarter mile or so is level and mostly wooded but then the trail just falls down the hill via a few switchbacks to the canyon and bridge. I reckon the elevation drop is about 700 feet to the bridge. Great views all along once the trail hits the open slope. The wildflowers were just amazing along the upper part of the trail, but along the lower portion of the trail, it seemed drier and is a bit more wooded, so there was not the explosion of color from the flowers.
The bridge is certainly a marvel, somewhat from an engineering perspective but more so from the fact of where it is located and how difficult it must have been to build, particularly trying to figure out how all the materials were transported to this location. Maybe some of the bigger components were brought in by helicopter? Ever how they did it, my hat is off to the crew that completed this structure.
We could feel the sway in the suspension bridge as we crossed. We opted to stop at the bridge, as we would have a long climb back to the trailhead and we had more that we wanted to see today. Up to this point, we had the trail to ourselves (there was only one other car at the trailhead parking lot when we arrived), but as soon as we recrossed the bridge we met two girls hiking along, and short thereafter two other groups (three young guys and finally a family of four). But that was all, so it was still pretty quiet on the trail for the return hike. The hike back up the hill through the yellow, white and purple wildflowers was great and again we had a few songbirds flitting about. We were back at the trailhead by 9:20 so right at 2 hours for this short (2.8 miles round trip) but by no means easy hike.
I thought this was an excellent trail, but it was good to get an early start to beat the heat as the steep part of the trail is completely exposed (the level part at the start of the trail and again down near the river are wooded, but the areas that require the most work are out in the open!). Remember to bring water, a hat and sunscreen or otherwise cover up. Stout hiking shoes or boots are a good idea as well on the steep sections. This is a hike that I would make in again during future trips to the park as the views are great and the chance for wildlife sightings are pretty high.