Backpack Trail Guide

Trails / Idaho / White Cloud Mountains

Boulder Chain Lakes via Red Ridge Pass

Cecil D. Andrus–White Cloud Wilderness, Sawtooth National Recreation Area (Livingston Mill, south of Clayton)

Frog Lake, White Cloud Mountains
“Frog Lake, White Cloud Mountains” by Fredlyfish4 , CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source · Resized for the web

The Boulder Chain Lakes are a string of alpine lakes stacked up a basin in the White Cloud Mountains, one above the next. Getting there takes one long, steady climb to Red Ridge Pass, followed by a drop to Frog Lake and the first of the chain. From a base camp at the lower lakes, you can day hike up through a half dozen more.

It shares a trailhead with the Big Boulder Lakes trip but heads into a different basin.

The hike

The trip starts at the Big Boulder Creek Trailhead near the old Livingston Mill. One trip report puts it at 7,200 feet and calls it one of the more popular trailheads in the White Clouds. Evans Outdoor Adventures describes the last four miles of road climbing steeply on narrow gravel. The same writers noted that the current trailhead adds more than a mile compared with distances given from the old Livingston Mill trailhead.

The first two miles follow Big Boulder Creek, and one trip report says that stretch is open to motorcycles. At the split, the right fork crosses the creek toward Walker, Island, and the Big Boulder Lakes. The left fork climbs toward Red Ridge Pass, Frog Lake, and the Boulder Chain Lakes. On their 2014 trip, the Evans writers saw several groups coming out of the Walker Lake side but no one on their side until nearly reaching Frog Lake.

The climb is long but even. Evans reports about 2,400 feet of gain spread over five miles, averaging about 500 feet per mile, to Red Ridge Pass at about 9,600 feet and six miles in. Most of it is in dense forest, which helps on a warm day. From the pass, the trail drops about 800 feet to Frog and Little Frog Lakes, with views of the lakes and peaks the whole way down. The writer found Frog Lake more scenic than expected and wished they had camped there.

Willow Lake, at about 8,735 feet according to Evans, is the first of the Chain Lakes, reached after a little over nine miles. From there the trail climbs gently past Hatchet Lake (8,884), Shelf Lake (8,939), and Sliderock Lake (8,978), where the writer saw pikas racing around gathering plants for winter. Lodgepole Lake, at 9,008 feet, is the uppermost of the lower chain, about a mile and a half and 275 feet above Willow. Beyond it, the upper lakes include Hidden, Hammock, Hourglass, and Scoop, which Evans puts at 9,755 feet.

The elevation catches people. On the 2014 trip, one of the two hikers developed what they figured was mild altitude sickness after arriving at Willow Lake and had to rest the next day. At Lodgepole, the only other campers they met said they’d felt it too. The Evans pair logged 20.75 miles over three days with about 3,567 feet of total gain.

For longer trips, The Mountaineers describe multi-day loops that connect the Chain Lakes with Walker Lake and the Big Boulder basin, and with the Chamberlain Lakes over Castle Divide. Some of those routes use off-trail way trails, so check the details before you commit.

The White Cloud Wilderness was designated on August 7, 2015, a year after the Evans trip. Their 2014 report says they were hiking into what would soon become wilderness.

Tips

Camping

Camping is dispersed. Discover Sawtooth says to camp at least 100 feet from water and trails, use existing impacted sites, and avoid meadows. Forest Service order 0414-04-160 limits groups to 12 people. Pack goats are limited to three per person and nine per group and must be tethered near people at night, to protect bighorn sheep. The Sawtooth National Recreation Area’s food storage order does not apply inside the wilderness, but Discover Sawtooth strongly recommends a bear hang, canister, or bear-proof bag.

Inside Intel: The Evans writers camped at Willow Lake, the first of the chain, but said afterward that Hatchet Lake, just up the trail, had several nice vacant campsites and would have been a better spot. Asked later where they’d base camp next time, they said Willow or Hatchet, then day hike to the upper lakes. Shelf Lake also had decent open campsites. If you want something before the chain, the same writer wished they’d camped at Frog Lake.

Trail facts

The Lowdown

Base camp in the Chain Lakes:

A long climb and a night near 8,800 feet call for real rest. See which sleeping pads testers recommend.

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Where this comes from

This page draws on the sources below, along with other guides and trip reports. Links go to the original pages.

Before you go: This page is based on published trail guides, trip reports, and reviews, along with official park and agency information where we could find it. It’s meant to help backpackers discover new trails, not to replace current, official information. Conditions, closures, permits, campsites, and water sources change, and some details here may be out of date or wrong. Confirm everything with the managing agency and check current conditions before you head out, and don’t rely on this page alone for safety or navigation. Backcountry travel involves risk.