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Fire lookout · Clearwater County, Idaho

Balancing Rock Lookout

Also known as Balancing Rock Patrol Point

A 1933 L-6 observation cabin on a log crib in the Clearwater National Forest, abandoned in the 1940s and restored by volunteers in 2013-2014; a hike-in site.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Hike-in, per the Idaho Fire Lookouts listing
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-6 observation cabin, 8x8 wood frame, on a log cribThe design: L-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,116 ft (1,255 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests
Land
Federal land
Location
Clearwater County, Idaho
Coordinates
46.71174, −115.58719 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-balancing-rock

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

Downloads about 4.4 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. 1933 BuiltL-6 cabin on a log cribSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  2. 1940 AbandonedSources say only 'the 1940s'; 1940 is a placeholder for that decadeSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, fs.usda.gov
  3. No record between 1940 and 2014
  4. 2014 RestoredRestoration work during 2013 and 2014, carried out by volunteers led by Jerry BranningSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.org
  5. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 7, 2020 as US 1469, ID 161Source: nhlr.org
  6. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Balancing Rock Lookout is a cabin rather than a tower.1 It sits in the Clearwater National Forest in Clearwater County, Idaho, at about 4,116 feet (1,255 meters).2,1

The L-6 was a small observation cabin on an 8-by-8 wood frame, typically set up as a backup, emergency or patrol site.2 This one was built in 1933 on a log crib, and sources describe it as believed to be Idaho's only surviving L-6.2,1,3

Few details of its history are on record, and none of the sources names anyone who staffed it.1,3 The cabin was abandoned in the 1940s.1,3,4

Volunteers restored it in 2013 and 2014.5,4 Jerry Branning, a Forest Fire Lookout Association member, managed the project.3,5

The Idaho site describes it as the sole standing L-6 in the state and lists it as a hike-in site.3 Its listing also asks visitors to keep the location quiet, so this story leaves out directions. The sources I could read do not describe current access or permit rules, so check with the Clearwater National Forest before going.

  1. Balancing Rock (Shin) Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/balancingrock.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Balancing Rock Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/balancing-rock-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Balancing Rock Patrol Point, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/st-joe-clearwater-region/balancing-rock-patrol-point/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Clearwater National Forest Lookouts, USDA Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/media/259185 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association 2014 report (PDF), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-idnmt-2014.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Balancing Rock Lookout - 2016
Balancing Rock Lookout - 2016 (2016)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Pre 2014 Restoration
Pre 2014 Restoration (2014)Photo: Gary Weber, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Balancing Rock L.O.
Balancing Rock L.OPhoto: Gary Weber and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Balancing Rock in 2016
Balancing Rock in 2016 (2016)Photo: Gary Weber and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Balancing Rock Patrol Point
Balancing Rock Patrol PointPhoto: idahofirelookouts.com · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the location by 1.3 km (0.8 mi).

    • NHLR: 46.71174, −115.58719
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 46.70570, −115.57240

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: what it is built of, design, photos, 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
  4. 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
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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.