| Ardeth Lake | |
|---|---|
  Ardeth Lake Location in Idaho  Ardeth Lake Location in the United States | |
| Location | Boise County, Idaho |
| Coordinates | 43°57′54″N115°00′51″W / 43.9650176°N 115.0142895°W Coordinates: 43°57′54″N115°00′51″W / 43.9650176°N 115.0142895°W [1] |
| Type | Glacial |
| Primary inflows | Tenlake Creek |
| Primary outflows | Tenlake Creek to South Fork of Payette River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 0.50 mi (0.80 km) |
| Max. width | 0.34 mi (0.55 km) |
| Surface area | 78.5 acres (31.8 ha) [2] |
| Surface elevation | 8,232 ft (2,509 m) [1] |
Ardeth Lake is an alpine lake in Boise County, Idaho, United States, located high in the Sawtooth Mountains in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The lake is approximately 18 miles (29 km) south of Stanley. Ardeth Lake is most easily accessed from trailheads in the Sawtooth Valley, which are accessed from State Highway 75 or from the Grandjean trailhead to the northwest off of State Highway 21. [3]
Alpine lakes are classified as lakes or reservoirs at high altitudes, usually starting around 5,000 feet in elevation above sea level or above the tree line.
Boise County is a rural mountain county in the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 7,028. The county seat is Idaho City, which is connected through a series of paved and unpaved roads to Lowman, Centerville, Placerville, Pioneerville, Star Ranch, Crouch, Garden Valley, and Horseshoe Bend. The elevated central basin area rises 1,700 feet higher than Horseshoe Bend for instance and thus receives significantly more snow during the winter. Star Ranch, Placerville, and Centerville altitudes average 4,300 above sea level whereas Horseshoe Bend is 1,700 feet lower, Garden Valley is 1,157 feet lower, and Idaho City is 400 feet lower. Snow volumes around the county are best illustrated by the county Snow Load Map. Placerville roofs must be designed to withstand 150 pounds per square foot of snow whereas Horseshoe Bend is 1/3 that amount at 52.
Idaho is a state in the northwestern region of the United States. It borders the state of Montana to the east and northeast, Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington and Oregon to the west. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canadian border with the province of British Columbia. With a population of approximately 1.7 million and an area of 83,569 square miles (216,440 km2), Idaho is the 14th largest, the 12th least populous and the 7th least densely populated of the 50 U.S. states. The state's capital and largest city is Boise.
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With a surface elevation of 8,228 feet (2,508 m) above sea level, Ardeth Lake often remains frozen into early summer. At the southern end of the lake is Glens Peak at 10,053 feet (3,064 m) in elevation.
Ardeth Lake is in the central Sawtooth Wilderness, and wilderness permit can be obtained at trailheads.
The Sawtooth Wilderness is a federally-protected wilderness area that covers 217,088 acres (87,852 ha) 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 exceptional scenic beauty of the Sawtooth Mountains. On August 22, 1972 Public Law 92-400 designated the Primitive Area as the Sawtooth Wilderness and part of the newly created Sawtooth National Recreation Area. As part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, the Sawtooth Wilderness is an area where human development and use are restricted and people are to remain only visitors. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Sawtooth Wilderness has some of the clearest air in the lower 48 states.
