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2024 Map of Fossil Lake

Name: 2024 Topographic Map of Fossil Lake
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 2024
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 2024

About this map

Cooke City stands as a primary gateway to the high-altitude wilderness at the border of Montana and Wyoming. The landscape is defined by the high peaks of the Beartooth Mountains, including Mt Dewey and Mt Rosebud, which overlook a complex network of glacial basins and alpine lakes. This region is divided among several federal jurisdictions, including the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, Custer National Forest, Gallatin National Forest, and Shoshone National Forest.

A dense concentration of water bodies such as Fossil Lake, Upper Aero Lake, and Lower Aero Lake illustrates the intense glaciated character of this terrain. Historically significant backcountry access routes, including the Lady Of The Lake Trl and Rock Island Lake Trl, provide the primary infrastructure for movement across this high-elevation environment. The placement of the state boundary between Montana and Wyoming, along with the borders of Carbon and Park Counties, underscores the jurisdictional complexity of managing these high-mountain resources.