McDonald Lake is a small alpine lake

Alpine lake

Alpine lakes are classified as lakes or reservoirs at high altitudes, usually starting around 5,000 feet in elevation above sea level or above the tree line....

 in Custer County

Custer County, Idaho

Custer County is a rural mountain county located in the center of the U.S. state of Idaho. Established in 1881, it was named for the General Custer Mine, where gold was discovered five years earlier . The population was 4,342 at the 2000 census; it is estimated to have fallen to 4,166 by 2007...

, Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, located in the Sawtooth Valley in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area

Sawtooth National Recreation Area

The Sawtooth National Recreation Area is a National Recreation Area located in central Idaho, within the Boise, Challis, and Sawtooth National Forests. The recreation area is managed by the U.S. Forest Service and includes the Sawtooth Wilderness...

. The lake is approximately 15 miles (24.1 km) south of Stanley

Stanley, Idaho

Stanley is a city in Custer County, Idaho, United States. The population was 100 at the 2000 census. The center of population of Idaho is located in Stanley.-Geography:...

 and 34 miles (54.7 km) northwest of Ketchum

Ketchum, Idaho

Ketchum is a city in Blaine County, Idaho, United States, in the central part of the state. The population was 3,003 at the 2000 census. It is in the Wood River Valley, adjacent to Sun Valley; the two communities share many resources and both sit in the same valley beneath Bald Mountain, with its...

. The lake is very shallow and about half of it is a shallow wetland due to sedimentation.

McDonald Lake can be accessed from State Highway 75

Idaho State Highway 75

State Highway 75 is a two-lane highway that travels through the Sawtooth Range of central Idaho from Shoshone to Challis. The road is designated as one of Idaho's scenic byways and provides access to Sawtooth National Recreation Area...

 via Sawtooth National Forest road 205 and 096. Forest road 096 is a high clearance road that goes directly to a trailhead and campground on the shores of Yellow Belly Lake

Yellow Belly Lake

Yellow Belly Lake is an alpine lake in Custer County, Idaho, United States, located in the Sawtooth Valley in the Sawtooth National Recreation Area. The lake is approximately south of Stanley and northwest of Ketchum. Yellow Belly Lake can be accessed from State Highway 75 via Sawtooth National...

, which is just downstream of McDonald Lake.

See Also

• List of lakes of the Sawtooth Mountains (Idaho)
• Sawtooth National Forest
  Sawtooth National Forest
  Sawtooth National Forest is in Idaho and Utah was protected in 1905 by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt as the Sawtooth Forest Reserve. Today the forest administers over 2.1 million acres of some of the most remote forestland in the lower 48 states, and there are over 1,000 lakes and 3,000...
  
  
• Sawtooth National Recreation Area
  Sawtooth National Recreation Area
  The Sawtooth National Recreation Area is a National Recreation Area located in central Idaho, within the Boise, Challis, and Sawtooth National Forests. The recreation area is managed by the U.S. Forest Service and includes the Sawtooth Wilderness...
  
  
• Sawtooth Range (Idaho)
  Sawtooth Range (Idaho)
  The Sawtooth Range is part of the Rocky Mountains, located within a few miles south of Stanley, Idaho, in the Western United States. Much of mountain range is within the Sawtooth Wilderness, part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area...