Directions:
From Colter Bay, go south along the park road. Turn right onto Teton Park Road. Turn right
at the sign for String Lake. Follow the signs toward the String Lake picnic area. There are
three lots of varying sizes in the area. Park in the large one at the end of the road. The
trail starts near the bathrooms.
View Driving Map
It was a bright sunny day as we prepped in the parking lot. There were cyclists, hikers, and
picnickers here at the String Lake area. When we finally got started and walked on the paved
path over to String Lake, we could see a few boaters in the lake, as well. Needless to say,
the start is a very developed area.
The paved trail at the start of the hike
Rafts in String Lake
We turned right and soon left the pavement behind, hiking on the relatively flat trail as it
follows String Lake toward Leigh Lake. The trail is mostly shaded as it
follows the water's edge. After about 0.8 miles, the trail veers right to the first
intersection. The left fork leads to the water's edge, the Leigh Lake portage. We took
the right fork, which soon exited into bright sunshine and climbed very briefly before
leveling off and re-entering the shade.
String Lake
String Lake
From here, the trail pretty much follows the eastern edge of Leigh Lake to its northern
end. Along the way, we encountered lots of hikers and a few fishermen, as well. We could
glimpse Leigh Lake through the trees, and every once in a while a short spur led us to a nice
view of the lake and the snow-flecked mountains above it to the west.
Leigh Lake
Panoramic of Leigh Lake (Click image to view full size)
About 2 miles into the hike, we found a nice beach area next to the trail and settled down
for lunch. From here we could see a large group of canoes floating past, heading north.
We'd see them on land a little later. For now, we enjoyed the sound of the tiny waves lapping
up against the shore, and the beautiful scenery. Despite being so close to the trail, it
was still peaceful.
Leigh Lake beach (our lunch stop)
After lunch, we continued north along the shore. We passed the group of people in canoes,
now enjoying a beach themselves. Next, we passed campsites 12A, 12B, and 12C, in that order.
they're spaced well apart, one after another along the trail, and none of them were occupied
at this time. They looked quite nice, with large flat areas for tents, and areas for cooking
on the other side of the trail closer to the water.
Leigh Lake
Leigh Lake
Playing on Leigh Lake beach
After passing the campsites, we came to a burned-out section of forest, but with colorful
wildflowers
sprouting underneath the dead trees. We then reached another small beach near the end of
Leigh Lake, about
2.9 miles into the hike. We rested here for a while, eventually deciding to continue north
toward Bearpaw Lake.
Flowers growing beneath dead trees
Leigh Lake
As we continued along the shady trail, mosquitoes became more of a problem. We slapped them
away as we continued past the end of the lake. We asked some hikers coming in the opposite
direction about Bearpaw Lake, and they said it was only 10 minutes away. Just 5 minutes or
so later we saw a sign for Bearpaw Lake and turned right. Minutes later we descended down to
the shore of little Bearpaw Lake. To be honest, I was hoping for a little more than what
Bearpaw Lake had to offer. Most of its shore is lined with grasses. It's backed by a green,
mostly forested mountain to the west.
It was quite hot in the afternoon sun as we took a quick break at Bearpaw Lake. We didn't
detect anyone else at the lake while we were there. We had the whole place to ourselves, but
we didn't stay long. We left around 4:20pm, starting our return trip back exactly the way we
had come. We didn't encounter many people on the way back, as most had already finished for
the day. We did pass a large group that now occupied campsite 12A (I believe it may have been the
same group we'd seen in canoes earlier).
Bearpaw Lake
Bearpaw Lake
We sped through the trail, finishing the return trip in about 95 minutes, including the last mile in
about 23 minutes, I think the fastest the boys have ever hiked a mile so far. If only they could
hike that fast all the time.
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