The Sawtooth National Forest is a very special place here in the heart of Idaho. The Sawtooth National Forest comprises more than 2.1 million acres of public land, most in south central Idaho with some in northern Utah. The Sawtooth Forest includes areas around Twin Falls, Fairfield, Ketchum and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area near Stanley. The Forest's 1,100 lakes and more than 3,000 miles of rivers and streams provide native trout and annual runs of salmon and steelhead.

The major rivers in the forest are the Salmon, South Fork of the Boise, South Fork of the Payette, and the Wood River. The congressionally designated 754,000-acre Sawtooth National Recreation Area is a part of the Sawtooth National Forest. Opportunities for recreation are virtually unlimited, ranging from primitive, undeveloped settings like the Sawtooth Wilderness to highly developed recreation sites such as Redfish Lake. The Sawtooth Forest has nearly 1,500 heritage sites recorded and management values teaching and interpreting the archaeology of the area.