Description: 5400-foot elevation. 31 campsites near the border of the Sawtooth Wilderness. The Idaho Centennial Trail heads south along the
Amenities: It’s a typical Forest Service campground, with an outhouse, drinking water, fire pits and picnic tables.
Season: late May September
Reservations: NO
Fee: day use $5; camping $10 (Large no-fee area along the river perfect for horse camping)
Sawtooth National Recreation Area
HC 64,
208-774-3000
Location: From Stanley, go 35 miles northwest and south on ID 21, then 7 miles east on Forest Road 524. Turn left on Forest Road 824 at the Sawtooth Lodge.
To travel to Grandjean is to journey into
Grandjean is in the northwest corner of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area where ponderosa pines tower and the
Though less popular than
Sawtooth National Recreation Area Special Uses Administrator Dave Fluetsch said the area is increasingly used as a wilderness access.
“One of the things that’s growing in popularity is that it’s an access to the wilderness area. I was there (recently), and the trailhead parking was completely full,” Fluetsch said. “You’ll see a lot of through hikers. Some people will meet in the middle (of the wilderness area) and trade car keys.”
Grandjean has a storied history that has been the subject of newspaper and magazine articles for 100 years. It is where one of the West’s most educated early forest rangers hung his hat for a spell. And that is where this story really begins. Before a colorful woman by the name of Babe Hansen opened a hunting lodge in Grandjean, the U.S. Forest Service occupied the area as a short-lived ranger station. Emile Grandjean, for whom the valley, a nearby mountain and a nearby creek are named, was one of the earliest supervisors of the
Grandjean, 74 at the time of his death in
As a third-generation student of forestry in his native country, Grandjean was years ahead of the first Americans to receive formal academic training in the subject. When the
In 1908, the 5.5 million-acre national forest was divided into the Sawtooth,
Then and now, the Boise National Forest included the upper South Fork of the Payette River valley, where the hamlet of Grandjean is still nestled among tree-enshrouded ridges and the inspiring backdrop of the Sawtooths.
Although the Grandjean area has remained in public ownership, the way it is governed changed in 1972, when Congress established the 756,000-acre Sawtooth National Recreation Area, which includes three national forests, five
According to Congress, the SNRA is to be managed so that “the conservation and development of scenic, natural, historic, pastoral, wildlife, and other values” are preserved. The enabling legislation continues to state that the use and disposal of natural resources like timber, grazing and mining “will not substantially impair the purposes for which the recreation area is established.”
And that, it appears, is what the managers of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area have done in the Grandjean area. It’s a place where history and recreation meld together like the ancient granite of the Sawtooth Batholith, which created the towering crags of the
Pictures of trips out of Grandjean: http://picasaweb.google.com/sbbchidaho2006/SawtoothPackTrips#
The chapter weekend at Grandjean was a great success. We had twenty members spend two days exploring this majestic area with perfect Indian summer weather. Small groups explored a number of trails, always returning in time to partake in the pre-dinner snack and cocktail hour, the opulent pot luck meals and the after dinner campfire talks. I am sure we will be returning to this area many times in the future.