| Hike-In | Abandoned | Elevation: 6870 ft |
History
Mallard Lookout is located in the Mallard Larkins Pioneer Area, a non motorized trail area that straddles the divide between the North Fork Clearwater River and the Little North Fork Clearwater River basins.
A camp was first located here in 1914, with Red Stewart manning the first watch and remaining there for at least 5 years.
In 1929 a ground cabin was built.
There was also a patrol lookout 2 1/2 miles away on Martin Peak.
Mallard Lookout was decommissioned in 1957.
In 1981 a former lookout Don Mathis, along with several other volunteers, rehabbed Mallard Peak.
In 2009 Tim Grubham, along with his family, did restoration work on the lookout with the help and approval of the USFS CdA office and archeologist Sara Wilson.
Mallard Peak Lookout is only accessible by foot and is in listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Our Notes
Mallard-Larkins holds a very near and dear place in our hearts. This is some of the most amazing country that Idaho has to offer and we’ve been blessed to have been able to backpack the area. Billy is putting together a trip report for our youtube channel that should be posted soon – stay tuned.
Tim Grubham’s photos from 2009:
Tim Grubham also took these winter photos of the Mallard Peak Lookout (2009?):
Some photos from our 2020 visit:
A buddy and I did a hike into the Mallard Larkins Wilderness back in the late 70s, We both worked at Red Ives. We had the key to the forest and were able to go into the locked lookout at that time. What an awesome experience. When we left our campsite the following day, I remember walking along a snowfield and started to overheat. I took off my brand new line Levi jacket and tucked it over the bar on the top of my pack. We hiked out 5 miles to the road. I looked for my jacket and it was not there. Since my mom had just bought that for me a few weeks prior, I figured I better go back for it. Welllllll turns out it fell off a few feet from where I had put it on my pack. 15 mile hike that day. My buddy stayed at the road and waited and waited and waited. As I finished the last 1/4 mile to the road, here comes my buddy on his motor bike. He figured I was hurt and was going in after me regardless of the wilderness designation.
Well lesson learned, don’t drap a jacket on the top bar of a back pack.
Wonderful country in Mallard Larkins.
Wow! I thoroughly enjoyed our hike there, and look forward to going back but definitely don’t want to hike in and out multiple times per day, so I will take note and learn from your lesson. Thanks for sharing!