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Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho

Bailey Mountain Lookout

Log cabin lookout (1927) replaced by an R-6 cab on a 10-ft tower in 1959; tower removed 1989 (one source says 1980); now Nez Perce NF, site gone.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed in 1989 per most sources (Idaho Fire Lookouts gives 1980). No source describes what remains.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Inside the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness; Idaho Fire Lookouts lists the site as hike-in

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Hike-in site per Idaho Fire Lookouts. No structure remains to climb.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerLog cabin with cupola (1927); R-6 cab on a 10-foot tower (1959)The designs: R-6, Cupola house
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1927
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Nez Perce National Forest (Bitterroot National Forest until 1957)
Land
Federal land
Location
Idaho County, Idaho
Coordinates
46.25584, −114.87328
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-bailey-mountain

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

Downloads about 4.2 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1927 BuiltLog cabin with cupola, the first lookout. A 1955 condition report, quoted on Weebly, says probably about 1926.Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1936 AbandonedPer the 1955 condition report quoted on WeeblySource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1948 EventRe-established as a primary lookoutSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1955 Condition assessmentCondition report: logs on two walls (SW and NW) deteriorating fast; recommends a 20 to 30 foot tower with cabSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1956 StaffedLuther Britton, the only observer named in the staff listsSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  6. 1957 EventAdministration transferred from Bitterroot National Forest to Nez Perce National ForestSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1959 Replaced by a new structureR-6 cab on a 10-foot timber tower built beside the log cabin, which was then removed (Forest Service post says after completion; Forest Service table says 1970s)Sources: idaholookouts.weebly.com, facebook.com
  8. 1965 Condition assessmentUSGS station description: roof flat, 20 feet highSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1965 and 1980
  10. 1980 RemovedIdaho Fire Lookouts lists the site as Gone in 1980; other sources say 1989Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  11. 1989 RemovedStructure removed after it stopped being staffedSources: firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com, facebook.com
  12. 1989 Last staffedNo longer staffed, per the Forest Service postSource: facebook.com
  13. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Bailey Mountain was a lookout site inside the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, about nine miles north-northeast of Moose Creek Ranger Station.1

The first lookout was a log cabin with a cupola, built in 1927.2,1 A 1955 Forest Service condition report, quoted by one history, thought it was probably built around 1926.3 That report found the logs on two walls deteriorating fast and recommended a tower of 20 to 30 feet topped by a cab.3

The site was abandoned around 1936, then brought back as a main lookout in 1948.3 In 1957 the Nez Perce National Forest took over running the site from the Bitterroot.3 In 1959 a new R-6 cab, set on a 10-foot timber tower, went up beside the log cabin and took over from it.3,1

Most accounts give the new tower as 10 feet tall, though a Forest Service table lists 12 feet.2,1,4 A 1965 U.S. Geological Survey station description says the roof is flat and 20 feet high.3

The staff lists name one observer, Luther Britton, in 1956.2,5

A Forest Service post says the old log cabin was removed once the new lookout was finished, while a Forest Service table dates its removal to the 1970s.1,4 The R-6 cab was in use until 1989, when staffing ended and it was taken down.1,3 Idaho Fire Lookouts gives 1980 for the loss instead.5

Idaho Fire Lookouts lists the site as hike-in and destroyed or gone.5 No source we read describes what, if anything, remains at the site today.

  1. Bailey Mountain Lookout, Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests, Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/NPClwNFs/posts/bailey-mountain-lookout-was-located-within-the-selway-bitterroot-wilderness-appr/1571245032900833/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Bailey Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/baileymtn.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Bailey Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (Idaho), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/bailey-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Lookouts, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/media/259187 (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  5. Bailey Mountain Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/selway-region/bailey-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Bailey Mountain Lookout
Bailey Mountain LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.com · source

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Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com) Gave us: photos, links idahofirelookouts.com · No licence stated; facts only (coordinates, status/built/destroyed year parsed from each entry's short excerpt). Thumbnail photos mirrored with credit per the project's photo policy. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: design, height, agency, ownership, links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, visiting details, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.