The Blacktail Deer Creek Trail is an important trail that provides access to the Black Canyon of Yellowstone and the Yellowstone River. Your journey begins by crossing a valley and passing by small ponds. Soon you reach Blacktail Pond Trail as it enters from the left. The trail climbs a small hill providing a vantage point for some beautiful scenery of a rolling landscape covered with sagebrush and grasses. As you continue your hike you descend, and Rescue Creek Trail enters from the left at the .7-mile mark. At the 2-mile mark, the trail turns to the right and descends to Blacktail Deer Creek where the terrain levels off for a short distance. About a mile further along the trail, you pass an overlook of tall columnar jointing and a small waterfall. At 3.3 miles the trail parallels Blacktail Creek through a deep ravine at a steep grade until you reach the Yellowstone River at mile 3.7. Total descent along the trail is nearly 1,000 feet. There are a number of backcountry campsites along the trail should you want to make this an overnight excursion.