Hiking the Duck Lake Trail in Yellowstone National Park
Distance: 1.0 miles / 1.6 km
The Duck Lake Trail in Yellowstone National Park is a very short out-and-back day hike along the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake that leads to a beautiful, quiet, much smaller lake away from the busyness surrounding the popular West Thumb Geyser Basin!
That said, the Duck Lake Trail is not typically an adventure that most visitors go out of their way for, but rather one that visitors hike either before or after walking the beautiful boardwalk trail through the adjacent geyser basin.
If you’re trying to decide between hiking the Yellowstone Lake Overlook Trail or the Duck Lake Trail when visiting the West Thumb, my personal preference leans toward the Overlook Trail as the better of the two options. However, the Duck Lake Trail, at only 0.5 miles (0.8 km) each way, is certainly one worth considering, as it take very little time and effort to enjoy the best of all there is to see!
Duck Lake Trailhead Parking
Parking for the Duck Lake Trail is located at the joint West Thumb Trailhead.
This is the same parking lot that also serves the Yellowstone Lake Overlook Trail and the West Thumb Geyser Basin, with the easy boardwalk around the geyser basin being almost entirely responsible for why this is such a busy trailhead with somewhat limited parking.
Google Maps Directions: Duck Lake Trailhead (West Thumb)
Hiking Checklist - Yellowstone–Tetons
Here is a complete list of must-have things that you will want for any hike in the Yellowstone–Teton area.
Hiking the Duck Lake Trail
The Duck Lake Trail begins on the northern side of the parking lot, far from the two busy trailheads for the boardwalk around the West Thumb Geyser Basin.
Grand Loop Road
Almost immediately after leaving the trailhead, the Duck Lake Trail crosses Grand Loop Road, similar to the Yellowstone Lake Overlook Trail in the other direction.
On the far side of Grand Loop Road, the Duck Lake Trail begins winding its way through a very quiet Lodgepole forest, which, in my opinion, feels like quite an abrupt change considering the busyness of the trailhead and parking area just across the road.
This marker from the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads is associated with the surveying and construction of Grand Loop Road, rather than being one of the more familiar USGS survey markers found along trails and mountain summits across the United States, like Mt. Whitney.
This marker specifically was used to give surveyors a fixed, repeatable reference point for elevation and road alignment during work on this section of Grand Loop Road, and based on its location near the West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake, it was most likely connected to the 1930s-era West Thumb–Arnica Creek road project that helped create the modern byway we all use today!
This is where the Duck Lake Trail begins climbing the one and only hill on the entire trail, which gains roughly 100 ft. (30.5 m) over 0.2 miles (0.3 km) before it starts descending to the lakeshore at the power lines shortly ahead.
These power lines, at about 0.3 miles (0.5 km) into the hike, are located right at the highest point on the trail, meaning the rest of the hike to Duck Lake is almost entirely downhill from this point!
This is where Duck Lake can be seen for the first and only time from the trail before the very end!
The reason there is only one view of Duck Lake prior to the end of the trail is because the Lodgepole Pine forest that dominates the landscape across much of Yellowstone National Park is just too dense to see long distances.
To this point, always hike with bear spray on any trail in the Yellowstone–Teton area, regardless of this trail’s relatively short roundtrip distance.
Just before the lakeshore, the Duck Lake Trail descends two steep hills that almost resemble two switchbacks.
That said, some hikers may want to bring trekking poles for this steep descent alone.
This is the bottom of the steep descent just before Duck Lake.
Duck Lake
This is Duck Lake, a 39-acre (0.16-square-km) spring-fed lake, with a maximum depth of around 60 ft. (18.3 m).
Are There Fish in Duck Lake?
According to the National Park Service, fish were not originally found in Duck Lake, but Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout and Landlocked Salmon were stocked in the early 1900s. The Cutthroat Trout eventually established, but the Landlocked Salmon did not survive.
Today, visitors can fish in Duck Lake, but anglers age 16 and older are required to have a Yellowstone National Park fishing permit. What this really means is that Wyoming state fishing licenses are not valid or required for waters within the park.
Old Faithful (Upper–Lower Geyser Basins)
Canyon Village
Maddison–Norris
Yellowstone Lake & East Entrance
Mammoth, Lamar Valley & Tower
