730,864-acre recreation area in central Idaho includes hiking, backpacking, white water rafting, camping, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, fishing, and hunting
General Information
The Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) is a recreation area in central Idaho, that is managed as part of Sawtooth National Forest. The recreation area, established on August 22, 1972, is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, and includes the Sawtooth, Hemingway-Boulders, and Cecil D. Andrus-White Clouds wilderness areas. Activities within the 730,864-acre recreation area include hiking, backpacking, white water rafting, camping, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, fishing, and hunting.
The SNRA headquarters are about seven miles (11 km) north of Ketchum on Highway 75. SNRA also has a ranger station in Stanley, near its northern boundary.
Much of the SNRA was heavily glaciated, especially in the Sawtooth Mountains where remnants of these glaciers exist as glacial lakes, moraines, hanging valleys, cirques, and arêtes. The Sawtooth Fault stretches 40 mi (64 km) long, and runs through the Sawtooth Valley, while the two past large earthquakes likely took place on the fault around 7,000 and 4,000 years b.p.
The Sawtooth Mountains are in the SNRA, along with the White Cloud, Boulder, and Smoky mountains. The highest point in the SNRA is Castle Peak at 11,815 ft (3,601 m) in the White Cloud Mountains, while the second-highest point is Ryan Peak at 11,714 ft (3,570 m) in the Boulder Mountains. Thompson Peak, at an elevation of 10,751 ft (3,277 m), is the highest point in the Sawtooth Mountains, while Saviers Peak at 10,441 feet (3,182 m) is the highest point in the Smoky Mountains.
The headwaters of the Salmon River, also known as the "River of No Return" are in the SNRA, and the river flows north through the Sawtooth Valley before turning east in Stanley and following the northern border of the SNRA. The headwaters of the Big Wood, Boise, and Payette rivers are also in SNRA.
There are hundreds of lakes in the SNRA, most of which have been created by alpine glaciers. The largest lakes are Redfish, Alturas, Pettit, Yellow Belly, Stanley, and Sawtooth lakes.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Sawtooth National Recreation Area", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
