June Trail

Sawtooth Mountains: Toxaway Canyon Trails

Toxaway Canyon trails, which begin at the glacial Pettit or Yellow Belly lakes, can be an easy 6-mile day ride or a moderate 15.3 mile loop that travels through the heart of the Sawtooth Mountains and Sawtooth Wilderness Area. This sometimes busy canyon has been many a local's introduction to Sawtooth Mountain hiking.

The trail can be crowded near the trailhead, but the crowds thin the farther one travels from his or her car. Toxaway canyon is reached either from Pettit Lake Tin Cup hiker trailhead or Yellow Belly Lake trailhead.

Beginning at Yellow Belly rather than Tin Cup reduces the hiking distance to several of the mountain lakes and saves 930 feet in elevation change. Yellow Belly Lake Road is rough, however, and many hikers choose to begin at Tin Cup.

Map ©2001 E.B. Phillips. Map background ©2000 National Geographic, from the "Topo" Idaho CD-ROM series.