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Fire lookout · Clearwater County, Idaho

Bertha Hill Lookout

An early timber-association lookout site in Clearwater County, Idaho, first used around 1900-1902; the 1950s steel tower is used for emergency detection.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Drive-up emergency stand-by tower owned by a timber protective association. A 1958 association report says visitors may not go beyond the observatory platform; no current visiting rules found.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerCurrent 56-foot steel tower with a 14-by-14-foot live-in cabThe design: L-4
Built of
Steel
Built
1902
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
5,477 ft (1,669 m)
Agency
Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association (owner); administered by Potlatch Corporation
Land
Unknown
Location
Clearwater County, Idaho
Coordinates
46.76384, −115.79175
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-bertha-hill

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 4.1 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. 1902 BuiltFirst lookout at the site (Kamstra), used by trail camp cook Mable Gray; Idaho Fire Lookouts gives her 1902 tree-perch watch; the register gives 1900 for the first postSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  2. 1906 BuiltCrude open pole platformSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  3. 1918 Built20-foot pole tower with enclosed cab; Idaho Fire Lookouts gives 1923 for a glass-cabin towerSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  4. 1931 EventLookout killed by lightning while on duty in the earlier pole tower; Idaho Fire Lookouts gives 1932Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  5. 1933 Replaced by a new structure40-foot pole tower with L-4 cab, built by CCC crews; a 1955 association report (Forest Lookouts) dates it to 1934Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1933 and 1958
  7. 1958 Replaced by a new structureCurrent steel tower; the register gives 1959, association reports describe work from 1955 and completion in 1957Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  8. 1964 EventLookout died after a fall from the steel tower; a July 17, 1964 Idaho State Journal item and the July 16 association report put it in July 1964; the association calls it accidental; the register gives 1966Sources: nhlr.org, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1964 and 1991
  10. 1991 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 8, 1991Source: nhlr.org
  11. 1995 Last staffedRegularly staffed through the 1995 fire season; used for emergency detection sinceSource: firelookout.com
  12. 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.

Bertha Hill stands in Clearwater County, Idaho, and the register lists the tower as belonging to the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association.1 The register gives the elevation as 5,477 feet, while Rex Kamstra's page gives 5,520.1,2

The summit was first called Thunder Mountain.2 Kamstra's page says the present name most likely came from college students at a trail camp, though it notes that various interpretations exist.2

The register dates the first post at the site to 1900.1 A 1957 newspaper, quoted on Forest Lookouts, puts the founding at 1900 and the construction at 1902.1,3 Kamstra's page calls Mable Gray, the cook at the trail camp, the first lookout here.2 Idaho Fire Lookouts says that in 1902 she went up a tree perch two times daily to scan for smoke.4

Later towers followed one after another. A pole platform went up in 1906, a 20-foot pole tower with a small enclosed cab in 1918, and in 1933 a 40-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab, built by Civilian Conservation Corps crews.1,4,3 A 1955 association report, quoted on Forest Lookouts, dates that L-4 tower to 1934.3 Idaho Fire Lookouts gives 1923 for another 20-foot tower with a small glass cabin, so the early dates do not fully agree.4

The current tower is a steel structure, which the register gives as 56 feet tall with a 14-by-14-foot live-in cab.1 Its build date is disputed: the register says 1959, and Kamstra's page and Idaho Fire Lookouts say 1958.1,2,4 The association's annual reports, quoted on Forest Lookouts, describe work starting in 1955 and the tower completed in 1957.3 Kamstra's page adds that its superstructure came from Scofield Lookout.2

Kamstra's page says two lookouts died on duty here.2 The register gives 1931 for a lightning death on the earlier pole tower, while Idaho Fire Lookouts gives 1932.1,4 The other death came after a fall from the steel tower. Newspaper and association records put it in July 1964, and the association calls it accidental, while the register gives 1966.1,3 Idaho Fire Lookouts says a metal skirt went on the tower afterward as a safeguard.4

Regular staffing ran through the 1995 fire season, and Kamstra's page says the tower has served as an emergency detection site since.2 Idaho Fire Lookouts, writing in 2021, says the tower remains in use and calls it the longest continuously staffed one.4 The register added it on October 8, 1991.1

The register notes a public observation platform at 46 feet.1 A 1958 association report says visitors could reach the observatory platform but not go beyond it.3 No current visiting rules turned up in the sources read, and the tower remains a drive-up emergency stand-by site, so anyone hoping to visit should check with the association first.4

  1. Bertha Hill Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/bertha-hill-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Bertha Hill Fire Lookout Tower, Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout, https://www.firelookout.com/id/bertha.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Bertha Hill - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (Idaho), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/bertha-hill.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Bertha Hill Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/st-joe-clearwater-region/bertha-hill-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Bertha Hill Lookout
Bertha Hill LookoutPhoto: Ron Kemnow Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Bertha Hill Lookout, 1920
(1920)Photo: Ray Saladin, whose father served at nearby CCC Camp 1920, P 212, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Bertha Hill Lookout
Photo: Ron Kemnow Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Bertha Hill in 1902
Bertha Hill in 1902 (1902)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Fords Creek Research Center, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Bertha Hill in 1910
Bertha Hill in 1910 (1910)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Fords Creek Research Center, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Bertha Hill in 1924
Bertha Hill in 1924 (1924)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Fords Creek Research Center, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Bertha Hill in 1933
Bertha Hill in 1933 (1933)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Fords Creek Research Center, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Bertha Hill in 1958
Bertha Hill in 1958 (1958)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Fords Creek Research Center, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Bertha Hill in 1997
Bertha Hill in 1997 (1997)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Fords Creek Research Center, and Rex Kamstra, 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, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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: design, height, dates, 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 LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) 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, 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.