Redfish Lake is an

alpine lake An alpine lake is a high-altitude lake in a mountainous area, usually near or above the tree line, with extended periods of ice#On lakes, ice cover. These lakes are commonly glacial lakes formed from glacial activity (either current or in the pas ...

in Custer County, Idaho, just south of

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. It is the largest lake within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The U.S. Forest Service has developed some facilities for hiking, camping, and water sports on Redfish Lake while largely maintaining the natural landscape of the Sawtooth Mountains. On the north shore sits a seasonal hotel and marina, Redfish Lake Lodge, which offers a cross-lake ferry service for hikers and sightseers in the summer.

Toponym

The lake is named for the brilliant sockeye salmon that once returned from the

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in such massive quantities that the lake shimmered red during spawning season. Currently, only a small percentage of the wild sockeye succeed in making through the several hydroelectric dams along their route back to the lake to spawn. Sockeye must not be targeted while fishing and must immediately be released if they are caught.

Geography

The surface

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

of Redfish Lake is above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The lake is long and wide, with a maximum depth of , and of shoreline. The actual trail around the lake is in length. The average temperature of the lake ranges from freezing () to a high of around in late July & early August. The lake freezes over in winter, with ice thickness of . The peaks which frame the lake at its south end are * Mount Heyburn at to the west * Grand Mogul at .

Access and amenities

Redfish Lake is approximately south of

. A paved access road from State Highway 75 delivers visitors to a recreation area at the north shore of the lake. Facilities include campgrounds, cabins, picnic sites, toilets, drinking water, swimming beaches, a boat launch, and a horse corral. Trailheads grant access to a number of trails for hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, and mountain biking, both around the lake and into the mountains (permits may be required). A visitors center runs interpretive programs.

References

Lakes of Idaho Lakes of Custer County, Idaho Glacial lakes of the United States {{CusterCountyID-geo-stub