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Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho

Bear Wallow Lookout Site

Log cabin lookout built 1930 in the Nez Perce-Clearwater forests, replaced by a 41-foot L-4 tower in 1956, abandoned 1971 and taken down by the mid-1980s.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Taken down and burned in the 1980s; sources give 1984, 1986 or 1987. No source describes what remains today

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

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

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Idaho Fire Lookouts lists the site as hike-in; no current access information found

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab on a 41-foot treated timber tower (1956); earlier two-story log cabin with cupola (1930)The designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1930
Height
41 ft (12.5 m)
Elevation
5,263 ft (1,604 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests
Land
Federal land
Location
Idaho County, Idaho
Coordinates
46.12592, −115.05230
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-bear-wallow

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 3.9 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. 1930 BuiltTwo-story log cabin with cupola; the register calls the cupola a D-6 typeSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1930 and 1948
  3. 1948 StaffedGail Renshaw listed as staff, per Idaho Fire LookoutsSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  4. 1956 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  5. 1956 Replaced by a new structureL-4 cab on a 41-foot treated timber tower; the register gives 30 feetSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1956 and 1971
  7. 1971 AbandonedFour sites give 1971Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  8. 1984 RemovedForest Service packer's oral history recalls taking the lookout down in 1984; the Forest Service post gives 1981, 1984 or 1987 for the burningSource: facebook.com
  9. 1986 RemovedThe register says demolished in 1986; Rex's says destroyed in 1986Sources: firetower.org, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1987 RemovedFirelookout.com says gone by 1987; Idaho Fire Lookouts says confirmed gone in 1987Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  11. No record between 1987 and 2022
  12. 2022 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: February 19, 2022Source: FFLOS register entry
  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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Bear Wallow began as a two-story log cabin with a cupola, built in 1930.1,2 The register dates a D-6 cupola at the site to the same year.3

In 1956 the cabin was replaced by an L-4 cab on a tower of treated timber, 41 feet tall.1,2,4 The register gives the new tower's height as 30 feet.3 The Forest Service history says the new tower was up by 1956 and the log lookout that came before it was removed.4

Idaho Fire Lookouts lists one known name for the site, Gail Renshaw, in 1948.5 The Forest Service says the tower had about two decades of staffing.4

Four sources give 1971 as the year the lookout was abandoned.3,1,5,2 That does not sit well with the Forest Service's figure of about 20 years of staffing.4 The dates for its removal also differ. The register and Rex's give 1986.3,2 Firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts say it was gone by 1987.1,5 The Forest Service history quotes a packer who remembered taking it down in 1984. It says the old tower was cleaned out and burned in 1981, 1984 or 1987.4

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains on the site today. Idaho Fire Lookouts lists the site as hike-in and gone.5 The packer's account describes crews carrying out the windows, chairs and tools by mule, and reaching the road by Selway Falls the next morning.4 Whether the site is open to visitors is not stated in these sources. Check with the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests before planning a trip.6

  1. Bear Wallow Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/bearwallow.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Bear Wallow, Forest Lookouts (Rex's Fire Lookout Page), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/bear-wallow.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Bear Wallow Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/id/bear-wallow-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. The Story of a Wilderness Lookout at Bear Wallow, Part Two, U.S. Forest Service Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests (Facebook), https://www.facebook.com/NPClwNFs/posts/throwbackthursdaythe-story-of-a-wilderness-lookout-at-bear-wallowpart-twofast-fo/326420029526428/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Bear Wallow Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/selway-region/bear-wallow-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Nez Perce-Clearwater Fire Lookouts, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/nezperce-clearwater/recreation/discover-history/nez-perce-clearwater-fire-lookouts (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Bear Wallow Lookout - L-4
Bear Wallow Lookout - L-4Photo: Ned Getchell, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1938 D-6 Cupola
1938 D-6 Cupola (1938)Photo: Larry Smith - Nez Pearce-Clearwater NF Archive, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1950
1950 (1950)Photo: US Forest Service, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Bear Wallow Lookout
Bear Wallow LookoutPhoto: 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.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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: 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 LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: design, height, 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
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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.