Little Redfish Lake

Little Redfish Lake in central Idaho is in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Custer County.

Little Redfish Lake is a picturesque mountain lake (photo) on the northeast edge of the Sawtooth mountain range in central Idaho, five miles south of Stanley in and less than mile from State Highway 75.

Its surface elevation is 6489 ft above sea level, and is about a mile (1.6 km) downstream from the significantly larger Redfish Lake (6547 ft). Both were named for the red-scaled sockeye salmon that returned every year to spawn via the Salmon River. The lakes flow into the river via Redfish Lake Creek.

Besides the red-scaled salmon that come to this lake, Little Redfish Lake also has a clay pit, located at the bottom of the lake.

In 1961, Richard Brautigan wrote portions of his novella Trout Fishing in America while camping near the lake, which is featured in several chapters of the book.