Redfish Lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Redfish Lake | |
|---|---|
 Redfish Lake and the Sawtooth Range | |
  Redfish Lake  Redfish Lake | |
| Location | Custer County, Idaho |
| Coordinates | 44°7′N 114°56′W / 44.117°N 114.933°W |
| Type | Glacial |
| Primary inflows | Redfish Lake Creek |
| Primary outflows | Redfish Lake Creek to Salmon River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 4.5 mi (7.2 km) |
| Max. width | .72 mi (1.16 km) |
| Max. depth | 387 ft (118 m) |
| Shore length1 | 11 mi (18 km) |
| Surface elevation | 6,547 ft (1,996 m) |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Redfish Lake is an alpine lake in Custer County, Idaho, just south of Stanley. 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.[1] 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.[2]
The lake is named for the brilliant sockeye salmon that once returned from the Pacific Ocean 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.
