Highlights:
A short but steep climb to 10,247-foot Antone Peak.
Location: 40 miles southeast of Dillon in the Snowcrest Range.
Type of hike: Out-and-back day hike.
Total distance: 4 miles.
Difficulty: Strenuous to Antone Peak and easy to Antone Pass.
Best months: July through September.
Maps:
Antone Peak USGS Quad and Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest Map.
Finding the trailhead: Drive south from Dillon on Interstate 15 for 47 miles to Lima Exit 15. Head north through town and turn right, heading east on Forest Road 205 toward Lima Dam. Follow FR 205 for 23.2 miles past Lima Reservoir to the junction with FR 202. Turn left (northwest) for Antone Guard Station. Drive northwest for 5.2 miles and turn right onto FR 325 (0.3 mile past Clover Divide). Drive 5.3 miles on FR 325 to Antone Guard Station.
Parking & trailhead facilities: Parking lot and restrooms, no water.
Key points
1.0 Antone PassThe hike: Rough Creek Trail (670) starts across the field from the Antone Guard Station parking lot. After leaving the guard station, Rough Creek Trail traverses the right side of the ridge, passing through open sagebrush meadows and limber pine, aspen, and fir forest. The trail is well maintained and popular with horse packers and hunters.
2.0 Antone Peak
After what feels like a long mile, you reach 8,600-foot Antone Pass. Antone Pass is a grassy open saddle with excellent views north of the Snowcrest Range. Rough Creek Trail continues down the other side toward the East Fork of Blacktail Deer Creek.
Turn right, heading through the grass on the faint Meadow Creek Trail (42). The trail is hard to follow, but look for trail markers and blazes along the left side of the meadows. When the blazes peter out, look uphill and to the left, up the ridge. The trail drops into the bowl below Antone Peak. It is a short but very steep and strenuous climb up this bowl to the 10,247-foot summit of Antone Peak. The view here includes the rest of the Snowcrest Range stretching off to the north, the expanse of the Red Rock Valley, and the Centennial Mountains on the southern horizon. You also get a good look at Sawtooth Peak to the west, which looks like the teeth of a circular saw blade and could be termed Sawteeth Peak.
