Sometimes you just need to get outside and go camping. No agenda, just you, a few friends and some trees. If this sounds like your kind of fun, visit Warm Lake outside of Cascade, ID.
Surrounded by towering pine trees, the lake is beautiful and the area is one big wilderness playground. Warm Lake offers opportunity for boating, paddle boarding, swimming and dirt biking.
Fishing is a big activity in the area as well. Warm Lake is trout haven. Stocked with Rainbow trout and Kokanee, there is also opportunity to catch Bull, Brook and Lake Trout. Fishing is open all year round here with no special rules. You may have some luck spin casting from the docks but a boat will greatly increase chances of landing a big one.
Warm Lake Lodge sits on the edge of the lake and offers all kinds of aquatic rentals. “Lodge” is a loosely used word here. The lodge has more of a motel/dive bar kind-of vibe but don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome. The lodge is family run and contains a convenient store, restaurant, and bar. If you choose to rent a canoe or paddle board, choose your watercraft carefully. Most of the equipment looks like it was found in the lost-and-found section of a goodwill. We wanted to rent stand-up paddleboards and they ended up giving us some dingy surfboards. Let me tell you, it is incredibly difficult to stand up on a surfboard on calm water. But the old expression “you get what you pay for” rings true because these rentals are dirt cheap. Manage expectations and you’ll still have fun out on the water.
For your overnight comfort, The Warm Lake campground is one of the more impressive campgrounds in the Forest Service Systems. It is also well maintained with some of the cleanest outhouses I have ever seen.
So if you’re looking for a fun weekend trip that doesn’t require much planning or preparation go visit Warm Lake.
If you’re looking for a little more of an adventure? Try Goose Lake further north of Cascade.
Chad can be summed up by his idea of a perfect day: Waking up early to watch the sunrise over the mountains, warm cup of coffee in hand then grabbing his camera and fly rod, hitting the trail to explore some uncharted territory followed by cold beers and campfire steaks. Chad is often joined on his adventures by his wife, Tori, and their dog, Kona.
