Heart Lake and Six Lakes
Enjoy colorful surroundings on this cross-country trek in the Boulder-White Clouds.
- Location: Boulder-White Clouds
- Status: Proposed Wilderness
- Distance: 4 miles round trip
- Elevation: 1,030 ft
- Difficulty: Strenuous cross-country hike
- Maps: Sawtooth National Forest, SNRA, Ketchum & Fairfield District; USGS Washington Peak
- More information: Trails of the Sawtooth and White Cloud Mountains
Begin your hike at the road pullout. Walk down to Fourth of July Creek and ford it. Be cautious, fording the creek in early summer, and sometimes until August, is hazardous. After crossing, climb up the right side of the Heart Lake outlet.
Walk down the hillside, into a flat meadow area, at .5 miles. Cross to the left side of the creek and then back to the right for the easiest walking. When you reach a second meadow, cross to the left side of the creek and then to the right, once more.
At 1 mile you will reach the lake. If you would like to hike to the higher of the Six Lakes, walk left around Heart Lake. At 1.5 miles turn right, going towards the lake. Circle this lake along a wooded slope. Continue your hike up a gully and then down to a peninsula on the northern side of the highest lake at 2 miles. You will see the other three lakes are west of the second lake.
Directions
Drive north of Ketchum on Highway 75 for 44.6 miles. Turn right on Fourth of July Creek Road and drive 9 miles to a pullout area above a big campsite.
