Alpine Lake is an

alpine lake Alpine lakes are classified as lakes at high altitudes in mountainous zones, usually near or above the tree line, with extended periods of ice cover. These lakes are commonly formed from glacial activity (either current or in the past) but can al ...

Custer County, Idaho Custer County is a rural mountain county in the center of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,275. The county seat is Challis. Established in 1881, the county was named for the General Custer Mine, where gold ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, located high in the Sawtooth Mountains in the

Sawtooth National Recreation Area The Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) is a national recreation area in central Idaho, United States that is managed as part of Sawtooth National Forest. The recreation area, established on August 22, 1972, is managed by the U.S. Forest Se ...

. The lake is approximately southwest of

Stanley Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...

. A trail from the Redfish Lake Creek trailhead and campground at the southwestern end of

Redfish Lake 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 Re ...

lead about along Redfish Creek to an intersection with a trail that leads up to Alpine Lake. The Redfish Lake trailhead can be accessed from State Highway 75 via Sawtooth National Forest road 214. The surface

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

of the lake is 6,513 feet (1,985 m)

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. To reach the Redfish Creek trailhead you can either hike around either side of Redfish Lake or take a boat across and save several miles of hiking. With a surface elevation of

, Alpine Lake can remain frozen into early summer. At the southwestern end of the lake is

Packrat Peak Packrat Peak, at above sea level is a peak in the Sawtooth Range of Idaho in the United States. The peak is located in the Sawtooth Wilderness of Sawtooth National Recreation Area on the border of Boise and Custer counties. The peak is located ...

at in elevation. Alpine Lake is in the

Sawtooth Wilderness The Sawtooth Wilderness is a federally-protected wilderness area that covers of the state of Idaho. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it was designated the Sawtooth Primitive Area in 1937 to preserve the ...

and wilderness permit can be obtained at trailheads.

References

See also