Mystic
About the Mystic Lake Hydroelectric Facility
The Mystic Lake Hydroelectric Project is a two-unit hydro plant on the West Rosebud Creek in the Beartooth Mountains, about 75 miles southwest of Billings, in southern Montana. Completed in 1925, this plant has a generating capacity of 12 megawatts.
Mystic is classified as a “storage generation” project because it uses the water stored in its reservoir to generate electricity. Rowe Dam at Mystic Lake sits at an elevation of about 7,600 feet. The spectacular waterfall at the foot of Mystic Lake is the largest in the Beartooth Mountains.
Historic Namesake
Historic Namesake
Mystic Lake is the largest lake in the Beartooth Mountains, and before the construction of the dam, its natural outlet was the high point of Rosebud Falls.
Now known as "Rowe Dam at Mystic Lake," Rowe dam was renamed in 2022 in honor of retiring NorthWestern Energy CEO Bob Rowe.
A remote location
A remote location
Because of the remote location of Mystic Lake, in the heart of the Beartooth Mountains at an elevation of about 7,600, the way employees reach the dam has evolved over the course of time.
In 1979, a rockslide took out part of the water flowline and washed out a stretch of the railway line that employees used to reach the dam. The damage was repaired, and a foot bridge was constructed for employees to cross the washed-out section of the rail. Today, workers take the line to the bridge, and cross on foot before re-boarding the upper stretch of the rail line.
The foot trail near the power house offers a popular path to mystic lake and the high country of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. It is also the start to one of several route to Granite Peak, the highest point in Montana.
"Golden Kilowatts: Water Power and the Early Growth of Montana"
The book "Golden Kilowatts: Water Power and the Early Growth of Montana" by Butch Larcombe tells the history of Montana's dams.