Sun Valley's White Cloud Mountains lie southeast of the city of Stanley and sit in the confines of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area.  Hundreds upon hundred of beautiful and pristine mountain lakes lie within deeply carved glacial cirque basins surrounded by the domineering presence of some of  Idaho's most unique and tallest summits.  Gaining their name for the early day pioneers who saw these distant limestone towers as billowing white clouds on the horizon, the White Clouds are also responsible for many of Idaho's triumphant battles for wilderness designation.  In the late 1960s when mining exploration below Castle Peak threatened the very existence of  Central Idaho's most beautiful regions, conservationist flocked together and successfully created the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, that is today apart of the even larger Sawtooth Wilderness.  Numerous summits top the 10,000 foot mark with many, to this day, unnamed.  Trail systems are abundant and well maintained, however for those who still like the untested trials of trail-less adventures, the White Clouds deliver copiously. Opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, lake and stream fly-fishing, mountain climbing and ski mountaineering are some of the best in the state.