Bismarck Lake Trail

View of the San Francisco Peaks over Bismarck Lake. The lake, which is often dry, serves as an important water source for wildlife. Located on the western flank of the San Francisco Peaks, Bismarck Lake Trail is an easy one mile trail ascending a gentle grade up through a beautiful forest of aspen, fir, and pine to a large meadow. The meadow offers stunning, unobstructed views of the San Francisco Peaks. The trail splits, the left for a short spur leading to a small, frequently dry tank named Bismarck Lake. The right fork heads up a quarter of a mile further to meet the Arizona Trail, offering opportunities for longer outings southeast through Hart Prairie and up to the Arizona Snowbowl, or north towards Little Tank and beyond. Photo by Deborah Lee Soltesz, September 2015. Credit: U.S. Forest Service, Coconino National Forest. For more information about this trail, see the Bismarck Lake trail description on the Coconino National Forest website.