Upper Payette Lake Drive

On the last day of a camping trip near Cascade, Idaho, we ventured up to some uncharted territory.  We went through McCall and the lovely Payette Lake to the less-crowded Upper Payette Lake for a picnic lunch, and some photos, of course.  One of Idaho's many fires last year had affected the Upper Payette, but it was still a lovely drive.

North Fork Payette River between Upper Payette Lake and Payette Lake.

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GPS Info

We collected all of the following data from our GPS unit during the adventure:

Maps

This Google Map is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Elevation Profile

This profile is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Coordinates and other details

Mileage:  Time:  Average Speed:

46.3 Miles 01:41:32 27 Miles/Hr.

If you would like to use this info with your GPS unit, the full GPX file is here.
If you want to view this in Google Earth, you can download the KMZ files of the track and topographic overlay.

Ponderosa State Park

The land on which Ponderosa State Park sits may be some of the most coveted and beautiful in Idaho.  Sitting on the 2.5 mile long peninsula on gorgeous Lake Payette, there are several miles of trails for hiking and biking in the summer, as well as for nordic skiing and snowshoeing in the winter.  Driving to the end of the peninsula, we were treated to some wonderful panoramic views of the lake and McCall, Idaho from the 300-foot tall basalt cliffs.  While there, we also took a brief hike around part of a lily marsh, but considering how warm it got, we couldn't endure much more than 1/2 mile. 

A sailboat floats on the Narrows of Payette Lake below Ponderosa State Park

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GPS Info

We collected all of the following data from our GPS unit during the adventure:

Maps

This Google Map is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Elevation Profile

This profile is provided by Delorme Topo USA.

Coordinates and other details

Mileage:  Time:  Average Speed:

10.3 Miles 01:21:04 8 Miles/Hr.

If you would like to use this info with your GPS unit, the full GPX file is here.
If you want to view this in Google Earth, you can download the KMZ files of the track and topographic overlay.

Long Valley Drive

The aptly-named Long Valley is over 42 miles long, and only about 6 miles wide at its widest.  We could not stop taking pictures of this beautiful valley near our campground in the Payette National Forest.  The highlight was discovering No Business Lookout, which we would have never discovered had we not been encouraged by a geocache... one of the biggest benefits to geocaching is finding some of the amazing places that you'd never stumble upon on your own!

Looking north from No Business Lookout towards Lake Payette and McCall on the north end of Long Valley.  According to the profile below, the lookout is about 2500 feet in elevation above the valley floor, which makes for a most impressive view!

 Views

There were lots of panoramic opportunites.  Here are a few that we stitched together:


Looking West from No Business Lookout towards Council Mountain



Looking South from No Business Lookout towards Cascade Lake



Long Valley Panorama

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GPS Info

We collected all of the following data from our GPS unit during the adventure:

Maps

This Google Map is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Elevation Profile

This profile is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Coordinates and other details

Mileage:  Time:  Average Speed:

88.7 Miles 05:00:05 18 Miles/Hr.

If you would like to use this info with your GPS unit, the full GPX file is here.
If you want to view this in Google Earth, you can download the KMZ files of the track and topographic overlay.

Kennally Creek Hike

In our Idaho camping guide book, we found a really cool campground nestled in the Payette National Forest.  At the campground, a trailhead begins along the Kennally Creek, which was swollen with snow run-off during our visit.  A five-mile round trip hike through dense forest, by grassy meadows, over slithering snakes (*gulp*) and the cascading creek. We were away from everyone (we literally came across nobody!) made for a very enjoyable hike.  By the way, while leading the group, it was Raymond who stepped right over the racer snake before he realized what it was.  He got himself out of there in a flash, and was  freaked out for a while.  We even found a geocache way out along the trail, and it had only been partially-eaten by some curious critter who found it before we did.

Kids take a moment to enjoy the rushing North Fork of the Kennally Creek as they stand on the bridge along the trail.

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GPS Info

We collected all of the following data from our GPS unit during the adventure:

Maps

This Google Map is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Elevation Profile

This profile is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Coordinates and other details

Mileage:  Time:  Average Speed:  Trailhead Coordinates:

5.1 Miles 03:23:09 1.5 Miles/Hr. N 44 46.870, W 115 52.451

If you would like to use this info with your GPS unit, the full GPX file is here.
If you want to view this in Google Earth, you can download the KMZ files of the track and topographic overlay.

Payette River Scenic Byway (North)

While we had already driven the Southern section of the byway several times, we haven't explored or recorded the northern half of it very much, so we wanted to make a page dedicated to the entire drive.  The northern half is very beautiful as it winds through the Payette National Forest, right along the rapidly flowing North Fork of the Payette River, which is considered by some experts to be one of the most challenging river reaches in North America, if not the world.  We took quite a few pictures of the entire camping trip that can be seen here.  

Rafters prepare for rapids along the North Fork of the Payette River.

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GPS Info

We collected all of the following data from our GPS unit during the adventure:

Maps

This Google Map is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Elevation Profile

This profile is provided by GPS Visualizer.

Coordinates and other details

Mileage:  Time:  Average Speed:

108 Miles 02:16:02 48 Miles/Hr.

If you would like to use this info with your GPS unit, the full GPX file is here.
If you want to view this in Google Earth, you can download the KMZ files of the track and topographic overlay.