FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Valley County, Idaho

Bear Creek Point Lookout

1934 L-5 cab on the Salmon/Salmon-Challis NF in Valley County, Idaho, inside the River of No Return Wilderness; abandoned in the 1950s, still standing, NHLR-registered 2008.

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 only, by trail within the River of No Return Wilderness.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 cab; NHLR gives 10 by 10 foot groundhouse, Forest Lookouts gives two-story 12 by 12 log cabinThe design: L-5
Built of
LogsGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
8,629 ft (2,630 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Valley County, Idaho
Coordinates
44.89312, −114.80511
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-bear-creek-point-2

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 3.8 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. 1934 BuiltL-5 cab built; all four sources agree on 1934Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1934 and 1951
  3. 1951 StaffedClipping (July 12, 1951, The Recorder-Herald): Charles L. Powell, Jr. of Kennewick, Washington has taken over 'Bear Creek lookout'. The clipping does not clearly identify this site.Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1951 and 2008
  5. 2008 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered November 20, 2008 as US 748, ID 50; nominated by Jill OsbornSource: 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.

Bear Creek Point Lookout is in Valley County, Idaho, at 8,629 feet, inside the River of No Return Wilderness.1,2 Its cab was built in 1934 to the L-5 design, and every source we read gives that year.1,2,3,4 The sources disagree on its size. The register calls it a 10-by-10-foot groundhouse, while the Forest Lookouts page describes a two-story, 12-by-12 log cabin.1,2,3

Staffing records are thin. A July 1951 clipping, reproduced on the Forest Lookouts page, says a Charles L. Powell, Jr., of Kennewick, Washington, had taken over the "Bear Creek lookout." The clipping does not say which Bear Creek lookout it means.3 Idaho Fire Lookouts says it does not yet have a documented staffing history for this lookout.4 The same page also reproduces a 1945 survey note that places a "Bear Creek Pt." lookout tower and cabin in the Nez Perce National Forest. The register and the Forest Lookouts page both put Bear Creek Point in the Salmon or Salmon-Challis National Forest, so this survey note may describe a different point with the same name.1,3 We found no notable fires tied to this lookout.

The cab was abandoned in the 1950s, and it is still standing.1,2 The register recorded it on November 20, 2008, as US 748, ID 50, nominated by Jill Osborn.1

Today the site is reached only by trail, within the wilderness.1 The U.S. Forest Service administers it, and Idaho Fire Lookouts calls it a hike-in site.1,4 Because the sources describe an abandoned cab on foot, check with the Forest Service about current conditions and access before planning a visit. We found no source about rental.

  1. Bear Creek Point Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/bear-creek-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Bear Creek Point Fire Lookout Cabin, Forest Fire Lookout page (firelookout.com), https://www.firelookout.com/id/bearcreekpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Bear Creek Point, Forest Lookouts (idaholookouts.weebly.com), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/bear-creek-point.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Bear Creek Point Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com), https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/west-central/bear-creek-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Bear Creek Point Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Bear Creek Point in 2000
Bear Creek Point in 2000 (2000)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, via firelookout.com · source
Bear Creek Point in 2000
Bear Creek Point in 2000 (2000)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, via firelookout.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.

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: height, 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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: what it is built of, design, 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, 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.