Jeff Lubeck

A Hop to the Top of Horton Peak

While hiking up to Horton Peak, as if out of nowhere, the lakes appear. They are surrounded by the jagged peaks of the Sawtooth mountains, blue skies, and green forest. The view can take your breath away.

From left to right, Alturas Lake, Pettit Lake, and Yellow Belly Lake.

Venturing up to the Summit of Horton Peak in the White Cloud range in Idaho never seems to disappoint. On this day in late July, the result will be no different. Accompanying me is my wife Linda, the dogs – Sage, Willow, and Paxton, and friends Dennis and Linda.

Horton Peak is the southernmost named mountain in the White Cloud’s. The hike to the summit is 2.7 miles in length and gains 2,780 vertical feet. The summit sits just below 10,000 feet elevation (9,900). A former United States Forest Service Fire Lookout sits on top. The views from the summit of Horton Peak are excellent.

The White Cloud Mountains from Horton Peak.

Horton Peak is located in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA), south of the town of Stanley and north of towns of Ketchum\Sun Valley. The trailhead is reached via Idaho State Highway 75, Valley Road and Forest Service Road 459.

I have travelled up Horton when the summit is arid\bone dry to covered in 15+ feet of snow and in a variety of weather conditions. However, my favorite time of year to hike Horton Peak is in the Fall.

My favorite Fall hike of Horton is described [here].

Map of hiking route to Horton Peak

My favorite photo (taken by me) of Horton is The Golden Path.

*** Jeff’s Thought’s and Other Worthless Trivia ***

The trail-bed is excellent. There is a wonderful combination of open space and shade on the hike. There is no real access to water while on the trail.

Once your done with the hike, head to the Smiley Creek Lodge (across the valley floor) on Idaho 75. Its an Old-School Idaho place that offers a friendly greeting and the Best Milkshakes in the World.

24 Hours of Fun at Goat Lake

Goat Lake in the Sawtooth Wilderness of Idaho possess water that appears to be shades of emerald and deep blue. Goat Lake offers superlative views of spectacular mountain peaks.

For most, reaching Goat Lake’s 8,220 ft elevation entails a 8.1 mile (round trip) hike that includes 1,650 ft of vertical gain. The last 3 tenths of a mile to the top of the falls, includes 600 vertical ft of gain on a loosely defined trail of scree and sand. Once reaching the falls, a short distance of boulder hopping and route finding occurs before crossing the creek and following the trail to the the lake. Towards reaching the falls it is best to try and stay as close to the falls and the creek. However, the approach varies greatly based on time of year, snow level, and level of water flow.

An extra 2 miles of travel (round trip) and 400 ft of vertical gain can be added to the trip. It provides a magnificent view of Goat Falls and the Goat Creek Basin from the Goat Falls Overlook.

If done together the entire route from the Iron Creek Trailhead with be 10.1 miles with 2,150 vertical ft of gain.

In the summer months, Goat Lake experiences a good deal of day hikers and some overnighters. The numbers of both drop somewhat during the week days. Early Fall is a fabulous time to visit Goat Lake with the number of travelers materially reduced.

For this photo-shoot I took a trip starting on the trail an hour prior to the light of day. After spending the night, I left the lake mid-morning. In short, I spent over 24 hours photographing Goat Lake.

I decided to capture my first images starting at the Goat Falls Overlook on the Alpine Way Trail.

The photo-shoot

Goat Falls at Dawn

At dawn the light on the rock walls is almost blindingly orange\red. The coloring as the sun rises above the horizon changes quickly. However the look is accurate and common for almost all of the Sawtooth’s at Dawn.

For perspective, I captured the image below from the same spot a few days earlier at Noon. The difference in light and color between Dawn and Noon is remarkable. The color of the rocks and the various shades of green are are a good example of how they look in early July at Noon.

Goat Creek crossing on Alpine Way Near Goat Falls Overlook.

The trail on the Alpine Way

The Alpine Way effectively acts as the border into the Sawtooth Wilderness from the Sawtooth National Forest. Count on working around on downed logs.

Indian Paintbrush

Williams Peak, The Goat Creek Basin, The Garbage Can and the Garbage Chute.

Fun in Winter

A fun winter-time adventure is to scale Williams Peak (10,636 ft.) or Thompson Peak (10,715 ft.), or the saddle in between them (10,020 ft.) and ski the Goat Creek Basin down through the Garbage Can. After a 900 vertical ft. ascent, you can continue the trip down. Your next task is skiing down the Garbage Chute into Goat Creek meadow.

Caltopo Backcountry relief maps indicate the Chute is about a 400 vertical of drop with much of the angle being 40-50+ degrees. There are a few spots that the maps suggest’s 60+ degrees.

A Post about The Garbage Chute is located [here].

The drop of the entire trip is about 4,600 vertical feet of skiing.

Note: The waterfall to the right of the Garbage Chute is pretty. However, it is not Goat Falls. Goat Falls is to the right and out of the picture.

Up the creek bed at the start of the sand|scree.

Approaching the top waterfalls on the sand|scree creek bed.

Looking down the creek bed from the waterfall and boulders.

My campsite at Goat Lake.

Civil End of Day.

Civil Start of Day.

* Jeff’s Thoughts and Other Worthless Trivia *

Research & Map of Photo-shoot

If you want to hike to Goat Lake and are not familiar with it, I strongly encourage performing your own research and drawing you own conclusion on how it should be done.

The map I have provided should only be used for context as it relates to this Post, and not as a usable guide.

Campsite

If you noticed the dark clouds in the photo of my tent and campsite, you are a good observer. As happens often in the Idaho Mountains, late afternoon Thunderheads with not much rain came through just before dinner time.

However, a bigger event presented itself after dark. A violent windstorm barreled through the lake area for about 30-60 minutes. The wind was as intense as I have experienced in 45 years of backcountry travel. My tent held, bent and did not break. I was not harmed. However, the wind was so strong my tent at times would bend completely to one side collapsing onto me in my sleeping bag for anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds at a time. Then the tent would return to normal. It was roller-coaster ride I did not expect.

Fourth of July in Goat Creek

Goat Creek Meadow July 2025

Goat Creek in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) and Sawtooth Wilderness is a treasure of the State of Idaho and the United States of America. It is a trail-less region with indirect access for the public. Most people know it for the jewel named Goat Lake situated at high elevations. Others know it as a terrific hunting grounds in the fall-time. Goat Creek runs through our home. Our property is surrounded by the SNRA and Sawtooth Wilderness. Our property line is the SNRA Boundary. Goat Creek, in short, is home territory for the Lubeck’s. The meadow is effectively the back yard.

Sage

Willow

On most days, a 10K out and back into the Wilderness (with about 1,000 feet of vertical) is our walk. The meadow sits at about 7,000+ feet elevation.

Water Flowing

The Fourth of July holiday is upon us. The temperatures have reached the 90’s (fahrenheit) the past five days. The implication is runoff from Goat Lake, down over Goat Falls is peaking. The result is the on the Eve of Fourth of July, the meadow has about 1-2 feet of standing water throughout versus being dry to mushy (as it was last Saturday). Sage and Willow take advantage of the the condition.

Flowers Abound

Flowers are sprouting up throughout Goat Creek.

Shooting Star in Goat Creek meadow.

Indian Paint Brush on Goat Creek.

***Jeff’s Thoughts and Other Worthless Trivia ***

Goat Falls is 650 feet in height. On this day the water is flowing in a big way. The route to Goat Lake (which is sketchy) includes 1,750+ feet of vertical gain most of which is in the last 1/2 mile, straddling the falls to the right. Most descriptions of the 8.1 mile round-trip say the approach qualifies as anywhere from Challenging to Brutal. The dogs and I would say the route is tricky and steep.

A Hop to the Top of Horton Peak