Getting There: Take the Fish Creek Exit on I-90 and proceed up Fish Creek Road #343, for approximately 16 miles and turn right on Surveyor Creek Road #7734 for 12 miles to the Schley Mountain Trailhead. This is a rough 12 miles, especially the portion past the Surveyor Lake trailhead at 8.5 miles. The Schley Mountain Trailhead has several places to camp and park along with a vault toilet. This trailhead and campground are dry, so bring plenty of water if camping. This is not the actual end of the road.
The gate is only open from when the snow is off until August 31; the gate is not open over Labor Day weekend. The road behind the gate is designated by the Forest Service as a non-maintained road. The Forest Service does not maintain or brush out this road.
North Montana Lake is the small pothole that is visible from the road as you near the Schley Mountain Trailhead. From the Schley Mountain trailhead walk back down the road for a quarter mile or so. Look for an obvious unmarked trail that drops off the road and heads down to the lake.
At the Lake: North Montana Lake is no more than a pothole and contains no fish. It is a bigger lake than Lenore Lake, but probably just doesn’t have the right characteristics to maintain a viable trout population. There used to be a primitive campsite by the lake but has seemed to have disappeared over the years. Most of the visitation is just to look and possibly swim.
Don't forget to take the time and climb up to the summit of Schley Mountain, a distance of only 3/4 miles. The trail takes off as an old road on the opposite side of the main road from the campground. There are some great views from the summit.
