To be honest Idaho was never really on our radar until COVID-19 cancelled many of our 2020 travel plans. We set out looking for hiking trips that were not National Parks since so many of those remained closed or only partially re-opened. We discovered the Sawtooth Mountains through a Pinterest search and it turned into one of our favorite weekend getaways ever.

The Sawtooth National Recreation Area consist of over 700 miles of breathtaking trails. We hiked 30+ miles of them in our 4 day weekend and were amazed by the gorgeous views, vast changes in topography, and pristine alpine lakes. Here is our long weekend itinerary complete with trail guides for hikes to Alice Lake from Tin Cup Trailhead, Sawtooth Lake from Iron Creek Trailhead and Bench Lakes from Redfish Trailhead.

Day 1

Catch a morning flight into Boise, Idaho

Pick up Rental Car and Drive straight to Redfish Lake Lodge (or other accommodations in Stanley, ID) – just under 3 hours

Hike to Bench Lakes from Redfish Trailhead – 8 miles roundtrip: 1,240 FT Elevation Gain

Trail Guide: From Redfish Lake Lodge you can walk to the trailhead or you can park right across the street in a designated parking lot. Shortly after the trailhead you will come to a fork – follow the left path towards Bench Lakes. The trail remains pretty flat for about a mile before turning uphill. Then you will hike along a ridge overlooking Redfish lake for another mile or 2. Eventually you will come to another fork – follow the path to the right. Soon you will pass a sign designating you are entering the Sawtooth Wilderness. Another mile or so you will reach the first bench lake. Keep hiking to the left of the lake and shortly after you will reach the second bench lake which is even more picturesque. Off-trail hiking is said to get you to the 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th lakes, but we were running out of daylight so headed back after the second.

Day 2

Get an early start with coffee and breakfast from Peaks and Perks in Stanley on your way to Iron Creek Trailhead. Highly recommend the berry smoothie and “egg-cellent bagel”, but they also have plenty of coffee options.

Hike to Sawtooth Lake– 10 miles roundtrip: 1,850 elevation gain.This was our favorite hike of the trip and one of my all time favorites! The views along this hike are incredible almost the entire way. Sawtooth lake was still frozen over in June, but I can’t imagine how beautiful it’d be with the water contrasting against the surrounding mountains.Trail Guide: Park at Iron Creek trailhead and take the main trail directly at the trailhead sign. The hike starts very flat through the woods. At 1.2 miles you will reach the Entering Sawtooth Wilderness sign. Soon after, you will meet an intersection where Alpine Way Trail cuts to the left – Stay straight toward Sawtooth Lake. At roughly 2 miles you will reach a clearing with another intersection – stay to the left. You will continue hiking at a minimal incline through a meadow with some switchbacks before reentering the forest and making your way to your first creek crossing (very manageable). After a few creek crossings the uphill climb begins with many steeper switchbacks. At 3.8 miles you will see a small sign (we almost missed it head down grinding) pointing to the left for Alpine lake. Stay to the right to continue on to Sawtooth lake. Continuing on the trail to Sawtooth will provide amazing views of Alpine lake from above, that trail takes you down to it. At 4.8 miles you will reach a small pond preceding Sawtooth Lake. You’re almost there – keep trekking and soon you’ll find the main attraction which you can explore all around and back country camp anywhere. There is also a saddle trail toward the right which will take you up higher to views overlooking the lake (not included in 10 miles).

Afternoon Boat Day at Redfish Lake. Redfish Lake Lodge has a marina with plenty of boats and non-motorized water activities. You can reserve a pontoon in advance online otherwise all other boat rentals are first come first serve. On your way back from the trail be sure to stop at Mountain Village Merc in Stanley for boat snacks and drinks. We went for a swim while out on the boat, but the water temps in June were still a bit chilly!

Enjoy Sunset on redfish Lake. The lodge has a full service restaurant – Limberts, reservations are recommended. They also have a big outdoor bar with picnic table seating along the sandy beach area.

Day 3

Check out of accommodations.

Backpack to Alice Lake from Tin cup Trailhead – 11.2 miles roundtrip: 1,600 FT elevation gain.

Trail Guide: The trail remains flat as you hike all the way along the right side of Pettit Lake. At 1.2 miles, not far past the end of the lake you will reach the Entering Sawtooth Wilderness sign. The trail will continue flat through the forest following the river with a couple manageable crossings until 2.8 miles. Then you start climbing mild switchbacks up the north side of the valley. When we hiked in June two more river crossings farther up required us to take off our boots to walk through water about knee height. When you get to the bridge crossing you’re on the home stretch. You’ll reach two picturesque ponds right before Alice Lake. We actually setup camp at the pond right below El Capitan peak because the snow cover limited the amount of great camping spots at Alice lake. Then we continued on exploring around Alice Lake and farther up the Trail which continues on to Toxaway Lake.

Camp at Alice Lake for the night. Enjoy the finest camping cuisine and a beautiful night under the stars.

Day 4

Pack up camp and hike out to Tin cup Trailhead the same way you came.

Drive back to Boise Airport (~3 hours).

Fly Home.

Additional Trip Tips:

Where to Stay: Stanley, Idaho is considered the gateway to the Sawtooth Wilderness. It is a town of population 63, but has a few accommodations: Mountain Village Resort, Triangle C Cabins and Redfish Riverside Inn are a few good options. There are also a handful of restaurants in the town and the Mountain Village Merc which is the closest grocery store.

Redfish Lake Lodge is the only accommodation on Redfish Lake, but their beach and marina are open to the public for day use. Cabin bookings sell out very far in advance. Cabins can accommodate larger groups and serve as a perfect hub for all activities on the lake and surrounding area.

When to Go: The summer season is considered Memorial Day till October with August being the busiest month. We loved visiting in June. There was still snow on the top half of the trails which made hikes more difficult, but there were almost no crowds and it was shorts weather during the day. We were the only hikers in sight when we reached Alice lake, Sawtooth Lake and the Bench Lakes which was amazing.

Hiking/Camping Permits: No advance hiking permits are required for any of the trails in this post or backcountry camping. All trailheads have a self service permit system where you fill out a slip and drop one copy in the drop box while attaching the other copy to your bag.

The cell service in Idaho is non-existent. Almost immediately after departing the airport parking lot we lost service until we reached the town of Stanley. We also did not have service at Redfish Lake Lodge. Make sure to download music, trail maps, and google maps in advance. Screenshot the above trail guides for reference while hiking.

Other activities to do around Stanley if you have more time:

• Mountain biking. Bike Rentals are available at Redfish Lake Lodge Adventure Hut. We saw a quite a few mountain bikers on the trails at redfish trailhead.
• Fly Fishing. Multiple companies offer 2 person full or half day guided tours
• Hot Springs. There’s quite a few blog post out there on all the Idaho hot springs. Near Stanley if you take a left to head north on 75 towards Lower Stanley you will find 3 right off the highway – Boat box hot springs, and Sun Beam were both recommended to us and are less then 30min from Redfish Lodge.
• White Water Rafting trips are also available from Stanley

Hope you enjoyed this post! If you made it this far that probably means you are very interested in planning a trip – comment if you have any questions!