Redfish Lake. Photo by Steve Platzer 

Gem of the mountains

Spending sun-splashed days
at Redfish Lake

By Dana DuGan

On a bright summer morning a person can strip down to nothing and dive into the frigid mountain waters of Redfish Lake. Privacy is no issue. There’s nary a house or dock on the shores of the pristine lake, which is located in the heart of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, a 756,000-acre recreational preserve that the Wood River Valley can boast as its backyard.

A morning dip in Redfish braces one for another day after camping out in the stunning wilderness of the Sawtooth Mountains.

The Sawtooths, which tower over the lake, are part of a dramatic range surrounding a glacier carved basin with more than 967 miles of cold rushing streams, vast forests, verdant mountain meadows, and the gem lakes: Redfish, Alturas, Pettit and Stanley.

Perched 6547 feet above sea level, Redfish Lake was named for the masses of red-scaled salmon that returned there every year to spawn and renew the circle of life.

In years past, the salmon arrived every August in Central Idaho, completing journeys that began in the Pacific Ocean. Each spring, salmon smolts that completed their first year and a half in the lake, wiggled through the lake’s calm, narrow outlet and into the famous River of No Return below.

As recently as 1955, more than 4,000 sockeye salmon made the annual pilgrimage to their ancestral spawning grounds. But by the early 1990s, those numbers were severely diminished. In 1992, a single male sockeye, dubbed Lonesome Larry, returned to Redfish Lake.

While fishing and rafting are primary activities in the rivers of the Sawtooth Valley, at Redfish Lake, a nearby resort keeps the atmosphere a bit less wild, though no less rustic or fun.

The Redfish Lake Lodge has been the hub of activity at the lake since its construction in 1932. Arlen and Derrel Crouch, natives of Jerome, Idaho, own the lodge, and their daughter Audra and her husband, Jeff Clegg, manage the day-to-day operations from Memorial Day weekend through early October.

Guests stay in rooms above the lodge dining room or in rustic cabins sprinkled throughout the woods nearby.

On summer evenings the dining room is alive with the chatter of tourists, Stanley locals and Wood River Valley day-visitors, all of whom have spent a long day in the sun and on the water. Others enjoy drinks on a porch with stunning views of the lake and the jagged peaks of the Sawtooths.

The rustic cabins for rent are the original cabins built in 1929 by Robert “Two-Gun” Limbert, who brought the lake and the Sawtooths to the attention of the United States at large.

Limbert was a humorist, author, photographer, entertainer, poet, painter, trick-shot artist, sculptor, explorer, big game hunter, naturalist, guide, taxidermist as well as a bird and animal imitator. As a self-proclaimed publicist for his chosen home, he was extremely effective, a one-man department of tourism.

Limbert understood early on that Idaho’s beauty would be one of the state’s greatest financial assets, and he was correct. He traveled the country widely showing photographs and films of the Sawtooths, earning the name “The Man from the Sawtooths.”

One of the most popular shows at the Redfish Lake Visitors Center outdoor amphitheater is Clark Heglar’s one-man show recreating this unique figure.

The center also offers a wide range of family-focused activities, such as guided wildflower and tracking walks, and lectures on subjects ranging from wolves to Native Americans. An active Junior Ranger program for kids sends all ages out to explore trails, caves and rock formations during the days.

On nice summer days the beach and the area around the lodge are abuzz with activity. But there’s more still to explore on the lake itself and on the trails surrounding it. A marina handles boating activities from renting paddle boats, kayaks, canoes and outboard motor boats to a full lake tour on the “Lady of the Lake” cruiser. As well, the Mystic Saddle Ranch, located near the Visitors Center, provides breathtaking trail rides up into the hills overlooking the lake.

While there is plenty of water skiing and jet skiing, sailing seems most at home on this pristine lake, so much so that folks moor their boats there the whole season. On the east side of the lake there is a boat ramp which day users frequent.

“Mountain lake sailing is varied at best and sometimes regarded as tricky,” says Jim Desnoyers, a Ketchum resident who’s sailed the lake for more than 30 years. “The wind runs up and down the valleys from temperature changes.” He says that 20-foot crafts are the most common, not only because they are easy to transport to the lake, but also because they’re easy to beach, a real asset at Redfish with its many sandy beaches. “That’s why the salmon liked to spawn there,” he adds.

Indeed, the lake’s sandy beaches, two of which have kid-friendly, roped-in areas, are one of the big attractions for day visitors.

Everyone has a favorite spot, campsite or trail. One such magical place is the lily pond, a short hike from the lake into the foothills of Heyburn Peak at the southwest end of the lake.

Once known as Cathedral Peak, Heyburn dominates the Redfish area. Two of its most discernable features are twin peaks known as the Hooded Monks. Next to them is the Grand Mogul, the backside of which is The Elephant’s Perch, a renowned climbing area.

At night, when the boaters take leave, there is absolute silence. It is another moment when a swim is called for. It’s cold, but there is a sense of the ideal, of rightness and contentment that comes from being in the water in such a setting.

Foremost, Redfish Lake is a splendid place for family fun. Reunions, birthdays and weddings are often held at the picnic sites on the north end of the lake, near the lodge. These can be reserved for such occasions. Because summer days are usually idyllic, bright and long, Wood River Valley residents often make the one-hour journey to Red Fish Lake to spend the day. It’s their own private Idaho. •