Sweet Grass Hills: Gold Butte

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Sweet Grass Hills: Gold Butte

With yet another weekend of unsettled weather in the mountains, I returned to the Sweet Grass Hills of northern Montana on 28 May 2016 to hike up Gold Butte, the shortest of the three main butte complexes in the area. Using Garmin's MapSource program, I mapped out a fairly straightforward driving route to the Cameron Lake trailhead which is the best access for Gold Butte according to this website. The same website mentions that, although the land surrounding Gold Butte is private, there is an understanding in place to allow hiker access without the need to acquire additional permission. From Cameron Lake, I essentially made a beeline for the west slopes of Gold Butte. The intervening landscape is generally open and easy to navigate, but there are a couple of fences that need to be hopped. Many options exist for climbing up the west slopes. I chose to ascend an obvious rubble-filled gully which led me to a surprising rock slide. From there, I ascended grassy slopes until I reached the black rubble that comprises the upper part of the mountain. Similar to Mount Brown (East Butte complex) and West Butte, numerous game trails and beaten paths criss-cross the black rubble on Gold Butte making it quite easy to ascend. Unlike the other two buttes though, the summit of Gold Butte is rugged, well-defined and very scenic. After a lengthy and enjoyable break on the summit, I descended a slightly different route down the west slopes by utilizing a broad grassy bench that I had earlier considered ascending. This route turned out to be much simpler than my ascent route and would be my recommendation for anyone considering a hike up Gold Butte. Another easy plod across open grassland with a couple of fence-hops had me back at the trailhead near Cameron Lake without any problems. Despite being overshadowed by higher buttes, an interesting approach coupled with a fantastic summit make Gold Butte the best hike, by far, in the Sweet Grass Hills.

	Gold Butte is reflected in Cameron Lake.
	Lupins are one of the many wildflowers blooming in the Sweet Grass Hills on this day.
	Sonny comes across a curious hose snaking across the field.
	The two bodies of water at left are Parsell Lake and Cameron Lake. At right is West Butte.
	A large hollow cairn sits atop a rocky mound at the foot of Gold Butte. Sonny dubs this mound, "Cony Rocks" (1376 metres).
	Here is one of the "Cony Rocks".
	Prairie phlox is another wildflower that is abundant in the area.
	Sonny hikes up rubble on the lower slopes of Gold Butte.
	Sonny's ascent route goes up the left skyline while his descent route follows the grassy bench to the right.
	A huge boulder catches Sonny's eye.
	A couple of mule deer scamper about on the grassy slopes of Gold Butte.
	Shooting stars are always a welcome sight on any hike.
	Sonny gives the 'thumbs up' on the summit of Gold Butte (1984 metres). In the distance is the East Butte complex.
	Here is the view of Parsell Lake and Cameron Lake from the summit of Gold Butte.
	Middle Butte is the bump in front of the right cloud shadow. Inexplicably, the higher bump partially covered by the shadow is unnamed.
	The East Butte complex is mainly comprised of Mount Brown (leftmost high point) and Mount Royal.
	West Butte is shaded by clouds in the distance in this view along Gold Butte's summit ridge.
	Yellow flowers adorn the slopes below "Cony Rocks".
	Gold Butte is reflected in a small pond.
	This belligerent female mallard spoiled Sonny's second attempt to snap the previous photo when she jumped into the water and splashed around for a bit, ruining Gold Butte's reflection in the pond. She then proceeded to squawk at Sonny as if he was being the annoyance!
	Total Distance: 9.9 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 5 hours 15 minutes Net Elevation Gain: 747 metres GPX Data