Fishhook Creek Trail
A gentle trail follows Fishhook Creek through lodgepole forest and open meadow to a clean view of the Sawtooth skyline, making it a useful first mountain walk.
Artwork inspired by Archie Teater
Fishhook Creek is valuable because it reveals mountain structure without demanding a full wilderness day. Forest opens into meadow and wet ground, where creek form, wildflowers, tracks, and distant granite peaks become easy to compare. The destination is a broad view rather than a single signed endpoint.
Popularity creates its main risks: Overflow parking, dogs, trail widening, and trampling around photographs. Start from the exact Redfish-area trailhead, yield on narrow sections, stay out of saturated meadow, and turn around for thunder. Mosquitoes can be intense after snowmelt.
- Character
- Gentle out-and-back
- Setting
- Sawtooth meadow and creek
- Allow
- 1½–2½ hours
Quick guide
- Route focus
- Exact Redfish-area trailhead
- Destination
- Meadow view, not a summit
Route logic for Fishhook Creek Trail
- Opening question
- Use the signed Redfish trailhead, not a roadside shortcut.
- Exact Redfish-area trailhead
- Watch forest open into creek meadow and peak views.
- System at work
- Keep feet and dogs out of saturated vegetation.
- Conditions check
- Leave exposed meadow when thunder builds.
Good to know
Several paths near Redfish use similar names. Confirm Fishhook Creek at Trail’s End and download the local map; early summer brings wet ground and mosquitoes, while smoke or storm can erase the mountain view.
Notice these
- Gentle out-and-back
- Sawtooth meadow and creek
- Watch forest open into creek meadow and peak views.