Lake Canyon

Lake Canyon is a hard hike in the Palisades Ranger District of Idaho's Caribou-Targhee National Forest, on land managed by the Forest Service. The route is an out-and-back of about 8.8 miles on a natural surface. It gains about 3,400 feet one way, climbing from a low point near 6,170 feet to a high point of roughly 9,600 feet before you turn around and retrace your steps. Plan for a long, sustained uphill effort on the way out and an equally long descent on the way back. The trail is open to horses and mountain bikes as well as hikers, so expect to share it. Several other hikes start close by. Upper Lake Trail and Upper Palisades Creek are each about 1.7 miles away, and Upper Lake Bench is about 1.9 miles off. For an overnight base, Palisades Creek campground sits about 3.3 miles away.