Cat and I were honored last year when our favorite museum and North Idaho icon, the Spragpole, asked us to create a Fire Lookout exhibit for the museum. We were double-honored (I am, but I’m not sure if that’s a real thing) when they asked us to give a presentation on fire lookouts. On Sunday, May 19th, 2024, we shared some information about Fire Lookouts...
This long gone tower is set in a beautiful spot in the Clearwater.
A Mike Chaffee Favorite! This staffed lookout has one of the best views in the Clearwater!
A tower destroyed in the 1970s but this site is full of artifacts
Built under Ed Pulaski’s watch, this 1920s D-6 lookout was lost to wildfire in 1936. Remnants and a the foundation of a second structure remain.
Drive-up site named for Ed Pulaski. Summit is clean with footings and a benchmark still present, but little else remains.
The visible remnants align with historic photos of the original L-4, which sat just below the summit.
All four footings are still present, along with wire and metal scraps. No photos of the L-4 have surfaced, but the views from the knob are stunning.
We found a tie-down at the peak, but no records of a structure. It might’ve been more than just a camp—hard to say, and maybe lost to history.
Remnants include old footings, number 9 wire, and a modern microwave tower with unknown origins.
The lookout community is a network of unique souls. A bunch of people who are perfectly comfortable being alone on a mountaintop for weeks or months at a time, but who light up the minute they’re in a room full of others who get it. People who’ve spent their lives scanning the horizon, and people, like us, who’ve spent ours scanning old maps, chasing history, and...