Soda Butte Creek Facts

Location:

Soda Butte Creek is the largest tributary of the Lamar River.  It begins its 28 mile journey in the Beartooth Mountains near Cooke City, Montana.  Soda Butte Creek flows southwest, entering the park fairly quickly.  Soda Butte Creek is a small mountain stream for the start of its journey, but it gains water and size with the addition of tributaries such as Pebble Creek.

Features:

Soda Butte Creek begins as a small stream, but is almost as big as the Lamar River when they join.  Shortly after entering the park, Soda Butte Creek descends into Icebox Canyon.  After the canyon ends at Round Prairie, Soda Butte Creek flows through open plains for most of its remaining trip.  Cutthroat are prevalent in the creek.  Rainbows have been caught, but they are few in number.  Most of the fish below Round Prairie are between 12-14 inches.  Above that, the trout are a little smaller.  While it is easy to wade Soda Butte Creek, fishing from shore is advised. 

Seasonal
Strategies:

The waters of Soda Butte Creek do not clear from spring runoff until early July.  The creek fishes the best from mid-July through October.  Hatches are spotty; look for caddis, Baetis and PMDs throughout the summer. 

Gray Drakes arrive in August, followed by Green Drakes in August and September provide great dry fly fishing.  Grasshoppers, beetles and ants abound in this area during the summer, so terrestrials always work well into the fall.  Attractor dries and small nymphs work well all season long.

Special Regulations:

Catch and release all cutthroats.  Check the Yellowstone fishing regulations for more information regarding Soda Butte Creek.

Access:

Access to Soda Butte Creek is easy due to the Tower-Cooke City road, which runs beside the creek for much of its journey.  A short hike may be required to reach the water.

Special Cautions:

Bison are frequent in this area.  Be careful around these animals; give them a wide berth when walking near them.  Bears are also very common in this area.  Take all the usual precautions when hiking and camping in bear country.