FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho

Black Butte Lookout

A 1970 Region 6 flat-top lookout on Nez Perce National Forest, built over a 1925 fire camp and 1928 cupola cabin; the record's rental listing appears to actually belong to a separate nearby lookout.

Status unknown: We do not know yet whether it still stands. NHLR and FFLA (firelookout.org) list it as standing, but a separate site, Idaho Fire Lookouts, has its own entry for this same lookout (matching coordinates, elevation, and build history) in its Selway-region listing marked 'Abandoned'. A different 'Black Butte' that site marks abandoned in its West Central region is a distinct lookout near the Payette National Forest, not this one. Sources conflict; status should be treated as unconfirmed.

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?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Status unknown sources disagree
Type
Two-story buildingUSFS Region 6 Flat Top cab on an 8-foot concrete block tower, built 1970, described by FFLA as a two-story structureThe design: R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1925
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,731 ft (2,052 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Nez Perce National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Idaho County, Idaho
Coordinates
45.48954, −115.87507
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-black-butte

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 3.5 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. 1925 BuiltFire-detection camp established at the site; the earliest documented watch presence, not a permanent structureSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1928 BuiltFirst permanent structure: a log cabin with a cupolaSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  3. No record between 1928 and 1970
  4. 1970 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  5. 1970 Replaced by a new structureCurrent two-story lookout (Region 6 Flat Top cab on 8-ft concrete block tower) replaced the 1928 cupola cabinSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1970 and 2020
  7. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate registered per NHLR detail page: November 29, 2020Source: NHLR register entry
  8. TodayStatus unknownWe do not know whether it still stands.

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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Black Butte rises over the Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho County, about 22 miles northeast of Riggins, at 6,731 feet.1,2 The Forest Service has watched for smoke from the site since 1925, when a simple fire-detection camp was set up there.1,2 A permanent structure followed in 1928: a log cabin with a cupola on top, the standard watch-post style of the era.1,2 That cabin gave way in 1970 to a Region 6 "flat top" cab set on an eight-foot concrete block tower, described elsewhere as a two-story structure.1,2,3 The lookout joined the National Historic Lookout Register in 2020, nominated by Brad Eells, and carries the numbers US 1461 and ID 153.1

Firefinder's own listing for Black Butte also carries a Recreation.gov rental write-up and the alternate name "Lookout Butte Lookout." Those details, though, appear to belong to a separate, similarly named lookout on the same forest. The National Historic Lookout Register and the Forest Fire Lookout Association both register "Lookout Butte" (US 769) as its own site, about 40 miles northeast of Black Butte, with its own history of a 1923 pole tower, a 1935 rebuild and a 1962 tower, and a lower elevation of 5,869 feet.4,3 That 1962 tower, not Black Butte's 1970 one, is the structure actually offered for overnight rental; Black Butte's own register entry makes no mention of a rental program, and nothing found here confirms that Black Butte itself can be booked or climbed.

Current status is unclear. The National Historic Lookout Register and the Forest Fire Lookout Association both treat the 1970 tower as the standing structure, and the FFLA's listing describes it as standing today.1,3 But a separate site, Idaho Fire Lookouts, carries its own entry for this same lookout — matching coordinates, elevation and build history — in its Selway region listing, and marks it "Abandoned," with no further detail on its condition.5 (A different "Black Butte" the same site lists as abandoned in its West Central region is a distinct lookout near the Payette National Forest, not this one.6) With sources in conflict and no ground report found, Black Butte's current condition and public access should be treated as unconfirmed.

  1. Black Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/black-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Black Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/blackbutte291.html (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Idaho lookout list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/id (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  4. Lookout Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/lookout-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  5. Black Butte Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/selway-region/black-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  6. West Central region lookout list, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/west-central-region/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Black Butte Lookout - 2018
Black Butte Lookout - 2018 (2018)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Black Butte in 2018
Black Butte in 2018 (2018)Photo: Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Black Butte in 2018
Black Butte in 2018 (2018)Photo: Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Black Butte Lookout
Black Butte LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.com · source

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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 whether it still stands.

    • Firefinder research: Status unknown
    • FFLA: Standing
    • NHLR: Standing
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Standing
    • Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com): Gone
    • OpenStreetMap: Standing

    Research (2026-10-04) gives unknown where the source records give standing. The page shows the researched status; please tell us if it is wrong.

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: 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, staffing, 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.