Aug 2, 2015 Nye, Montana, 57 miles We drove from Columbus, Mt south on 78 south to Absarokee then on to the small town of Fishtail and Nye. We turned W on 449. Then turned right at official road mm19, then right on Still water River Rd, turn Left on Limestone Rd-1/8 mile up the road to the first of 3 staging areas. The first one is right long the creek on State Land. You can camp there or just park for the day. The next 7.1 miles, the road gets a little narrower, but there were 6 trucks parked at the Custer National Forest kiosk. There were some people camping/staging, at the National Forest sign post #214010 but the road there was rougher and tighter.
I started the trip meter (TM) at the first staging area on Limestone Rd. then headed up into breathtaking mountains. Some mountains were covered with Douglas Fir trees, others had rock slides, and some were jagged sandstone ridges.
Amazingly we saw two snow drifts from winter on a mountain side melting into small glacier ponds and cold spring creeks. The road was rough enough, to be in an all terrain vehicle. At TM20.2 (GPS3 45*24.744N 110*03.958W), we turned right at the intersection, L at MM22.2 We didn't ride the other junctions, for lack of time. Picket Pin Lake is a NF# 2104D, which leads back to a stocked trout lake (there is another fork which leads to the lake also). We saw a trout fishermen at the lake and at the creek. Beware there are bear in the area.
We arrived at the summit with breathtaking, endless views of East Boulder Road area, Yellowstone mountains to the south, with an elevation of 10120 ft. We rose 5,000 ft in elevation!
INFORMATION>
LOCATION> NEAREST CITY=Absarokee DIRECTIONS=449 W thru Fishtail and Nye, at MM19 turn Right on to Sill water River Rd, then Left on Limestone Rd.
AREA > TYPE OF LAND=-forest, mountain, creek crossing , OWNER= Custer National Forest
QUALITY > Pro- many trails to explore, beautiful sights / Con-most trails are small roads, but small and rough, it feels like a trail / Length of stay-1-3 days / Rating-stars-4 star
TERRAIN> MILES OF TRAILS- forest / dust / water crossing /elevation-5,000 ft rise
REGULATIONS> Permit required-Montana / Camping by stream, State land /whip-no / helmets-no/ width req-no.
FEE> Camping-no / Entry-no
KEY SERVICES> Camping / Gasoline / Diesel / First Aid / Water / Dump / Food=Absarokee
GPS POINTS>2nd Staging area at 7.1 miles 45*25.814N 109*56.047W elevation 6131 ft.-Picket Pin Lake 45*25.828N 110*03.111W
CONTACTS>Custer National Forest
