Bench Lakes (Idaho)

The Bench Lakes are a chain of five small alpine glacial lakes in Custer County, Idaho, United States, located in the Sawtooth Mountains in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. A cutoff from Sawtooth National Forest trail 101 along Redfish Lake leads to the Bench Lakes.^[1] The lakes are drained by an unnamed stream that flows into Redfish Lake, Redfish Lake Creek, and eventually the Salmon River.

The Bench Lakes are in the Sawtooth Wilderness, and a wilderness permit can be obtained at a registration box at trailheads or wilderness boundaries. The uppermost Bench Lake is at the northeastern base of Mount Heyburn.

Bench Lakes

Lake	Elevation	Max. length	Max. width	Location
Bench Lake 1	2,362 m (7,749 ft)	190 m (620 ft)	160 m (520 ft)	44°07′01″N 114°57′02″W / 44.117031°N 114.950625°W
Bench Lake 2	2,363 m (7,753 ft)	465 m (1,526 ft)	240 m (790 ft)	44°06′59″N 114°57′19″W / 44.116365°N 114.955179°W
Bench Lake 3	2,414 m (7,920 ft)	110 m (360 ft)	095 m (312 ft)	44°06′50″N 114°57′48″W / 44.113772°N 114.963439°W
Bench Lake 4	2,496 m (8,189 ft)	435 m (1,427 ft)	295 m (968 ft)	44°06′35″N 114°57′57″W / 44.109683°N 114.965717°W
Bench Lake 5	2,632 m (8,635 ft)	400 m (1,300 ft)	210 m (690 ft)	44°06′22″N 114°58′25″W / 44.106147°N 114.973569°W

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  Lower Bench Lake at sunrise

• 

  Bench Lake 3

• 

  One of the Bench Lakes at sunrise

References

1. Sawtooth National Forest. “Sawtooth National Forest” [map].1:126,720, 1”=2 miles. Twin Falls, Idaho: Sawtooth National Forest, United States Forest Service, 1998.

See also

• List of lakes of the Sawtooth Mountains (Idaho)
• Sawtooth National Forest
• Sawtooth National Recreation Area
• Sawtooth Range (Idaho)