Sawtooth National Recreation Area
Public Land · Ketchum, Idaho
Seven hundred and thirty thousand acres of granite, lakes and headwaters in central Idaho, created by Congress in 1972 to stop an open-pit molybdenum mine being dug under Castle Peak. It holds three wilderness areas, more than forty summits above ten thousand feet, hundreds of alpine lakes and the source of the Salmon River - the River of No Return. The sockeye that return from the Pacific to Redfish Lake inside it make the longest and highest salmon migration in the world, about nine hundred miles upstream and six and a half thousand feet of climb, and they are the reason the lake is called Redfish.
5 North Fork Canyon Road, Ketchum, Idaho, 83340, United States
Open year round, 24 hours, with no entrance station and no fee to enter. ⚠ THE SEASON IS THE CONSTRAINT, NOT THE HOURS: high trails hold snow into July, and most campgrounds, the Redfish Lake facilities and the boat shuttle run roughly late May to late September. HIGHWAY 75 OVER GALENA SUMMIT IS MAINTAINED ALL WINTER but closes for avalanche control at short notice. THE SNRA HEADQUARTERS VISITOR CENTRE north of Ketchum keeps short and limited days - typically part-days early in the week - so do not plan a permit or map stop around it without ringing first. Free self-issue wilderness permits are at the trailheads. Campgrounds are booked on recreation.gov and summer sells out months ahead.
Sawtooth National Recreation Area on Spottos · Explore more places on Spottos