Wildflowers at Hell Roaring Lake

Horizontal orientation. Canvas prints are available with optional barnwood or hardwood floating frames hand-crafted by the photographer, making a truly unique and one-of-a-kind piece of art. Please see images for details.

Hell Roaring Lake in the Sawtooth Mountains is one of Idaho’s most popular recreation destinations. Besides being a popular place for camping and fishing, it is a photographer’s dream! The view of the mountain peaks is phenomenal, and when the lake is calm the reflection is outstanding. I decided to make a trip to hike Hell Roaring and Imogene Lakes in early June 2026. The trail information I had found mentioned that the road to the trailhead was bad, so I had not done this hike until I got a truck that could handle the road. It wasn’t as bad as people said, but I wouldn’t have been able to drive my car up there. The hike to the lake was cool and pleasant, and when I arrived the lake was as calm as could be, and the reflection was astounding! The sun’s angle wasn’t too high yet, and I was able to find a composition with the reflection as well as some mauve colored wildflowers in the foreground to draw the eye into the photo and give a sense of depth. Although there was a lot of contrasting light, I was able to use autoexposure bracketing to balance the shadows with the bright sky and snow-capped peaks.