Payette Lake is a 5,330-acre body of clean glacial water at an elevation of 5,000 feet. The lake is nearly 400 feet deep at its deepest point. It offers great fishing and boatings and numerous sandy beaches. Half of the lake is protected as part of Ponderosa State Park and offers 1,000-acres of wilderness, camp sites, hiking trails—all on a peninsula jutting out into the center of the lake.