Fire Lookouts

Some of the most interesting places to visit on the Salmon-Challis National Forest are our historic Fire Lookouts. Since their establishment in 1908 the Forest Service around Salmon and Challis have built, maintained and staffed up to 50 different lookout locations around the forest. 

Lookouts varied in size and construction depending on the needs of the Forest at the time. Some of the earliest lookouts were originally built by their first staffers (and sometimes with the family's help!), and became their family's summer home; resupplied by pack string and with a telephone line for outside communication. In later years, the Forest Service used helicopters to transport pre-made metal cab structures up to lookout locations and then install them on site. These metal cabs were sparse compared to the hand-built cabins of old, but were easy and cheap to install.

These days, sometimes 100+ years since their constructions, our historic lookouts are in a varied state. Ease and frequency of air patrols over central Idaho have made the lookouts a redundant system for most of the summer. The Salmon-Challis still staffs and maintains 3 lookouts each summer season (Long Tom, Middle Fork and Stein) and will often use historic lookout structures for key support around specific fires and staff them for the duration of the fire. 
 

Granite Mountain, Bluenose, Sheephorn and a half dozen other historic fire lookouts still remain,  unstaffed, atop Idaho's mountains. We encourage visitors to hike the peaks, follow the trails and footsteps of a fire lookout of the past. Many of these abandoned lookouts are accessible and visitors can gaze out through the single pane windows and imagine they are the lookouts, patrolling and watching to keep our forests safe. 

We ask that all visitors at historic sites take only pictures, these sites should be appreciated and respected. These areas, structures and trails can be glimpses into the lives of lookouts from years ago. Please leave them as you found them for future visitors to share your experience