Kootenai National Forest · Montana

Swamp Creek

1.1 mi of trail, end to end · native material surface · trail No. 121 · trail class 3 · typical grade 12-20% · tread 12-18 inches wide · hiking, bike · seasonal: hiking 05/01-10/30

Begins at the forest's mile 0, 48.1265, -115.4696 - no trailhead mapped Drive to where the trail begins

#912 Swamp Creek Trailhead & Buck Lake #912 the Forest Service's write-up

This Cabinet Mountains Wilderness trail follows Swamp Creek drainage to Lost Buck Pass, and Trail #912A ends at Buck Lake. From Lost Buck Pass, Lake Creek Trail #656 drops into Upper and Lower Geiger Lakes, and South Divide Trail #360S follows a major ridgeline out to the southern boundary of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. Buck Lake Trail #912A ends at Buck Lake where there are a couple dispersed campsites and the lake contains small cutthroat trout.

The trail crosses Swamp Creek at approximately the 8 mile mark. This is a major stream crossing that can be challenging and dangerous for most of the year. There are other minor stream crossings that usually do not pose any major difficulties for travelers.

Swamp Creek Trail #912 & Buck Lake Trail #912A

Restrictions <ul><li>No motorized or mechanized vehicles.&nbsp;</li><li>Properly possess and store all food, refuse, and other attractants pursuant to Kootenai National Forest <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd534160.pdf">Food Storage Order</a> (CFR 261.58 (cc)).</li><li>Please practice Pack-in-Pack-out and Leave-No-Trace ethics.</li><li>Cabinet Mountains Wilderness has limits&nbsp;on the number of persons and stock when traveling in parties. Included is a list of all &nbsp;<a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5413129.pdf">prohibited acts</a>. You can learn more about wilderness by visiting Wilderness.net</li></ul>

This trailhead on fs.usda.gov

Every trail in Kootenai National Forest

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About this trail's facts

The lines are the US Forest Service's National Forest System trails layer (public domain), read 2026-10-16 and simplified for the map; the length is the line's, end to end, and the class, surface, grade and tread width are the forest's own entries where it publishes them - a forest that publishes the centreline alone has none. The trailheads and the points along the way are the Service's recreation points, and the write-ups its own recarea text, unedited. Heights come from USGS 3DEP through Terrain Tiles on AWS (Mapzen/Tilezen), read along each line and rounded; a short trail on steep ground can be off by a few tens of feet. Closures change: check the forest's own site before you go.