Tolo Lake is a shallow, natural lake in camas prairie in Idaho County, Idaho, United States. It is about 35 acres in size. An area of about 206 acres including the lake was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. It is a historic rendez-vous site of the Nez Perce and others.

In September 1994 IDF&G cooperated with The Friends of Tolo Lake to improve fish and wildlife habitat when a worker saw something in the muck—a huge bone! Authorities identified it as a Columbian Mammoth. A hasty two-week paleontological recovery of prehistoric mammoth and bison ensued. Work resumed in August 1995, resulting in recovery of three mammoth skeletons and an ancient bison skull. Other fossils were left in place as a preservation measure.

Mammoths became extinct around 12,500 years ago. The Columbian Mammoth (Mammuthus columbi) stood 13 feet at the shoulder and weighed up to ten tons. They were similar to modern African Elephants. Like elephants, Mammoths were herbivores whose family groups tended to move in herds. The largest tusks found measured 16 feet.

There is some debate over how much hair the Columbian Mammoth would have had. Some scientists think they were not as furry as wooly mammoths and may have had only tufts of hair on their head and along their back.