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Fire lookout · Valley County, Idaho

Big Baldy Lookout

Also known as Big Baldy Mountain

A 1924 log cabin with cupola was replaced by an R-6 flat-top cab on a tower in 1959; on emergency status, reached by a 1.2-mile wilderness trail; sources disagree on the forest and the 1924/1925 date.

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. Idaho Fire Lookouts calls it 'Hike-In Emergency Use' and firelookout.com says it is on emergency status; no source says the cab is open to visitors or for rent. The trail to it is open to hiking, backpacking and horseback riding in the wilderness.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Big Baldy Lookout Trail #4218, 1.2 miles from the junction with Big Baldy Ridge Trail #4227; part of the trail crosses a recent burn area, expect downfall
Staffing
Not staffed (as of undated)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 (Region 6 plan) flat-top cab on an enclosed tower, built 1959, replacing a log cabin with cupola (completed 1924; firelookout.com says 1925)The designs: R-6, Cupola house
Built of
Wood
Built
1924
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
9,710 ft (2,960 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Boise National Forest per NHLR and Idaho Fire Lookouts; the trail page lists the Salmon-Challis National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Valley County, Idaho
Coordinates
44.78243, −115.21890
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-big-baldy

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 3.9 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. 1924 BuiltLog cabin with cupola completed (NHLR and Idaho Fire Lookouts). firelookout.com says the first structure was built in 1925Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1924 and 1959
  3. 1959 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  4. 1959 Replaced by a new structureRegion 6 plan flat-top cab on an enclosed tower replaced the original buildingSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1959 and 1981
  6. 1981 First staffedEarliest known staff on the Idaho Fire Lookouts list: Susan Hunt-Thompson (1981-1982)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  7. 1983 Last staffedLast known staff on the Idaho Fire Lookouts list: Scott Bebb (1983), citing the Kellogg Evening NewsSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  8. No record between 1983 and 2020
  9. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 2, 2020 as NHLR US 1446 (ID 139), nominated by Brad EellsSource: nhlr.org
  10. 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.

Big Baldy Lookout sits at roughly 9,700 feet in Valley County, Idaho, inside the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness.1,2,3 The register gives 9,710 feet, while firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts give 9,705.1,2,3

The sources also disagree about which national forest manages the site. The register and Idaho Fire Lookouts put it on the Boise National Forest, but the Forest Service's own trail page files the route to the lookout under the Salmon-Challis National Forest.1,3,4

The first structure on the peak was a log cabin with a cupola. The register and Idaho Fire Lookouts date it to 1924, while firelookout.com says 1925.1,2,3 In 1959 a Region 6 plan flat-top cab on an enclosed tower replaced that original building.1,3

Idaho Fire Lookouts lists known staff for 1981 and 1982, Susan Hunt-Thompson, and for 1983, Scott Bebb, whose entry cites the Kellogg Evening News.3 Firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts both describe the lookout as being on emergency status.2,3

The National Historic Lookout Register registered the lookout on October 2, 2020, as US 1446, with Brad Eells as nominator.1

The Forest Service trail page describes the route to the lookout. The Big Baldy Lookout Trail #4218 runs 1.2 miles from its junction with the Big Baldy Ridge Trail #4227 to the lookout, and it is open to backpacking, hiking and horseback riding. Part of it crosses a recent burn area, so expect downed trees. The page advises carrying a saw, a shovel, food, water and first-aid gear. It also notes that cellphones usually have no service in the area.4

Idaho Fire Lookouts calls the site "Hike-In Emergency Use."3 The sources do not say whether the cab itself can be visited or rented. Treat it as an emergency structure, check with the Forest Service before you go, and remember that wilderness rules apply to every visitor.1,2,3,4

  1. Big Baldy Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/big-baldy-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Big Baldy Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/bigbaldy.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Big Baldy Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/west-central/big-baldy-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Big Baldy Lookout Trail #4218, Salmon-Challis National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/salmon-challis/recreation/trails/big-baldy-lookout-trail-4218 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Big Baldy Lookout - 2019
Big Baldy Lookout - 2019 (2019)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1924
1924 (1924)Photo: USFS Region 4 History Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Big Baldy in 1938
Big Baldy in 1938 (1938)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, PJ Smith & Jim Reid, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Big Baldy in 1938
Big Baldy in 1938 (1938)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, PJ Smith & Jim Reid, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Big Baldy in 1998
Big Baldy in 1998 (1998)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, PJ Smith & Jim Reid, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Big Baldy in 1998
Big Baldy in 1998 (1998)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, PJ Smith & Jim Reid, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Big Baldy in 2019
Big Baldy in 2019 (2019)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, PJ Smith & Jim Reid, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Big Baldy in 2019
Big Baldy in 2019 (2019)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, PJ Smith & Jim Reid, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Big Baldy Lookout
Big Baldy 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. 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 LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: 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, status, agency, access, staffing, 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

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