In the Treasure Valley, mountain views are part of our daily experience. But sometimes, the soul craves Mountains with a capital M — and for many Idahoans, the Sawtooths are our state’s ultimate mountain getaway. Carved by glaciers and draped with snow all year long, these Central Idaho peaks are the backdrops for good times in one of the West’s most stunning settings.
I’ll never forget a late-summer camping trip to Redfish Lake with my brother in the early 1990s. I had just lived in Idaho for a few years, and Redfish seemed to be the absolute best place to show Jeff what the Gem State was all about. It was past Labor Day, with a chill in the air and damp, scarce firewood that made it all but impossible for two greenhorns like us to build a decent campfire. Twenty years later, Jeff and I still swap memories of our run to Stanley’s Mountain Village Merc for a can of lighter fluid to save us from “The Wood That Would Not Burn.”
From Boise, the quickest route to the Sawtooths is Idaho 21, either over Banner Summit north of Idaho City or east from Idaho 55 at Banks. But if you’ve never made the trip — or if you are showing out-of-staters Idaho for the first time — you might do as Jeff and I did and approach Stanley via Idaho 75 north of Ketchum. At the narrow parking area after Galena Summit, the full glory of the 30-mile-long Sawtooth Range unfurls across the broad valley in what may be Idaho’s single best view.
Far below, the Salmon River begins as a slim glimmer of water, with no hint of the frothy rapids it will create just a short distance into its 425-mile run as the longest free-flowing river in any one of the 48 Lower United States. In any other state, this scene would be the cover of a National Park Service brochure, but a bipartisan coalition of Idahoans instead prevailed to see that a 756,000-acre expanse was instead declared the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.
And recreation is at the heart of the Sawtooths experience. At Redfish Lake — and its less-crowded sister lakes (Stanley, Pettit and Alturas) — families with young children find comfortable campgrounds, easy trails and room to frolic. The sandy beach fronting Redfish Lake Lodge is especially beloved by campers, day-trippers and folks staying in the classic cabins and moderately priced inn rooms. Boating, shoreline bike rides and ice cream from the gazebo are summertime Redfish rituals that never grow old. For more adventurous visitors, the Redfish Lake boat shuttle provides a gateway to the Sawtooth Wilderness, where backpackers can trek to myriad small lakes nestled against the jagged, 10,000-foot-plus peaks.
River runners look to Stanley as a base camp for adventure, too. The Salmon River picks up steam as it bends just east of town, and several outfitters offer fun family rafting day trips in the Class I-III rapids. Stanley also serves as the outfitting and meeting point for many longer river excursions, including the Middle Fork of the Salmon, and mountain biking opportunities abound in the area.
The Sawtooths satisfy people who want good food and a comfortable bed with their sublime views. At Redfish Lake Lodge, visitors enjoy tasty regional cuisine served with Idaho wine and beer. My Fourth of July dinner in the lodge this summer was a generous plate of chicken pesto pasta with spinach and plum tomatoes and a pint of Sockeye IPA. In town, people line up outside the Stanley Baking Company for hearty breakfast fare. Owners Tim and Becky Cron (together with Becky’s sister Kelli Kerns) recently expanded their hospitality portfolio to include the nearby Sawtooth Hotel, which now has fine dining Thursday through Monday evenings May through October.
Summer is festival season in Stanley, and although many of the season’s biggest events have already happened for 2011, a few remain, including a plein air painting demonstration and sale at Redfish Lake Aug. 29-Sept. 1 and the Firemen’s Ball on Sept. 24. Plus, late summer and early fall are still great times to visit the area. Can’t make it this season? The Sawtooths will be there for you next year, too, with their timeless, soul-filling beauty.
