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Fire lookout · Clearwater County, Idaho

Blacklead Lookout Site

Also known as Blacklead Mountain

Clearwater NF lookout on Blacklead Mountain: 1929 pole tower and log cabin, 1934 40-foot L-4 tower; now gone, with footings and 1930s debris reported in 2023.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Sources say the lookout is gone; Idaho Fire Lookouts reports cement footings and 1930s debris at the site in a post dated August 17, 2023

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. No closure or restriction stated; Idaho Fire Lookouts describes backcountry trailheads that make the site busy

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
A few backcountry trailheads meet at the site, per Idaho Fire Lookouts; no standing structure is described

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower25-foot pole platform tower with a log cabin (1929), a new log cabin (1932), then a 40-foot pole L-4 tower (1934)The designs: L-4, L-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1929
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
7,318 ft (2,231 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Clearwater County, Idaho
Coordinates
46.63945, −114.85122
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-blacklead

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. 1929 Built25-foot pole platform tower with a log cabin. A Forest Service post, citing Louis Hartig, credits Oscar Hendrickson with building the log lookout; the post gives no yearSources: firetower.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  2. 1932 RebuiltA new log cabin was builtSources: firetower.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  3. 1934 Replaced by a new structure40-foot pole L-4 tower; a crow's nest atop an L-6 tower two miles north near Goat LakeSources: firetower.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1934 and 2011
  5. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 24, 2011; nominated by Luke ChannerSource: firetower.org
  6. 2023 Condition assessmentIdaho Fire Lookouts post dated August 17, 2023 reports cement footings and other 1930s debris spread over a large areaSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  7. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

The Blacklead lookout stood on Blacklead Mountain in the Clearwater National Forest, in Clearwater County, Idaho.1,2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register recorded the site in January 2011, on a nomination from Luke Channer.1

The first lookout went up in 1929 as a 25-foot pole platform tower with a log cabin.1,3 A new log cabin followed in 1932.1,3 In 1934 the 1929 tower and cabin were replaced by a 40-foot pole L-4 tower, and a crow's nest was set on an L-6 tower about two miles north, near Goat Lake.1,2 A Forest Service post, citing the author Louis Hartig, says Oscar Hendrickson built the log lookout, though it gives no year.4

Idaho Fire Lookouts says it has no documented staffing history for the site.3 A Forest Service photo caption names George Bradley as a lookout shown in the picture, with no date.4

The lookout is gone.1,5 In a post dated August 17, 2023, Idaho Fire Lookouts reports cement footings and other debris from the 1930s, spread across a large area.3 The Forest Service post says the structure has disappeared.4

Sources disagree on two details. Firelookout.com puts the site 11 miles northeast of Powell Ranger Station.2 The 2016 Forest Service list gives 11 miles northwest, and the Forest Service post also says northwest.5,4 Idaho Fire Lookouts gives the elevation as 7,218 feet, while the register, firelookout.com and the Forest Service list all give 7,318 feet.3,1,2,5

Today a few backcountry trailheads meet at the site, and Idaho Fire Lookouts says it tends to be busy.3 The same page labels it drive-up.3 The sources we read mention no closure or restriction.3 They describe footings and debris rather than a standing lookout, so visitors should expect that.3

  1. Blacklead Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/id/blacklead-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Blacklead Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/blackleadmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Blacklead Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/st-joe-clearwater-region/blacklead-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Blacklead fire lookout cabin with cupola, U.S. Forest Service Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests (Facebook), https://www.facebook.com/NPClwNFs/posts/blacklead-fire-lookout-cabin-with-cupola-was-located-11-miles-northwest-of-powel/2951531868205469/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Clearwater National Forest Lookouts, list compiled by Margaret Sand, Walde Lookout and Cindy Schacher, U.S. Forest Service, June 2016, https://www.fs.usda.gov/media/259185 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Blacklead Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Blacklead Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Blacklead Lookout
Blacklead LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.com · source

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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: 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, 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.