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Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho

Chair Point Lookout

Third-generation lookout on its site (original 1931 pole tower, 1953 L-4, present 1980 flat-cab tower), still staffed each fire season.

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. Active, staffed Forest Service lookout; drive-up per idahofirelookouts.com, not a public rental

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 2012-2015)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower41 ft timber tower, R-6/flat cab with catwalk (built 1980)The designs: R-6, L-4, L-6
Built of
Wood
Height
41 ft (12.5 m)
Elevation
6,951 ft (2,119 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Nez Perce National Forest, Salmon River Ranger District)
Land
Federal land
Location
Idaho County, Idaho
Coordinates
45.47083, −116.22917
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-chair-point

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1931 BuiltFirst structure: pole tower with L-6 cab (45 ft per NHLR/firelookout.com, 65 ft per idahofirelookouts.com), plus log cabinSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1931 and 1953
  3. 1953 Replaced by a new structure41 ft timber tower with L-4 cab replaced the original pole towerSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1953 and 1980
  5. 1980 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  6. 1980 Replaced by a new structurePresent 41 ft timber tower with flat (R-6) cab and catwalk went into serviceSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  7. No record between 1980 and 2009
  8. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on NHLR April 24, 2009, nominated by Gary WeberSource: nhlr.org
  9. 2015 FireTeepee Springs Fire approached; tower and cabin wrapped in protective foil, fire did not reach the structureSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Chair Point Lookout sits in the Nez Perce National Forest about six miles northeast of Riggins, Idaho, and has gone through three towers on the same spot.1 The first was a log cabin paired with a pole tower carrying an L-6 cab, which the National Historic Lookout Register and firelookout.com put at 45 feet tall and Idaho Fire Lookouts puts at 65 feet.2,3,1 Two of those sources date that original structure to 1931, though the National Historic Lookout Register's own description of the site doesn't give a year for it.2,3,1 The log cabin from that first build is still standing today.2

In 1953 the Forest Service replaced the pole tower with a 41-foot timber tower topped by an L-4 cab.2,3,1 That one lasted until 1980, when it was swapped for the structure still in use now: a 41-foot timber tower with a flat-roofed R-6 cab and catwalk.2,3

Known staffing records are thin but span decades: Norm Clark is recorded as lookout from 1956 to 1978, and Tony Cornish staffed the tower in 2012.3 The lookout has continued to be staffed every fire season in more recent years.3,1

The tower had a close call in 2015, when the Teepee Springs Fire advanced on it; crews wrapped the tower and cabin in protective foil, and the fire ultimately did not reach the structure.3

Chair Point was added to the National Historic Lookout Register on April 24, 2009, nominated by Gary Weber.2 As of the most recent reporting, it remains an active, staffed Forest Service lookout reachable by road, at an elevation of about 6,951 feet.2,3,1 Because it's a working fire lookout rather than a public rental, visitors should expect it to be occupied in season and shouldn't plan on climbing it uninvited.

  1. Chair Point Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/chairpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Chair Point Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/chair-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Chair Point Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/selway-region/chair-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Photo of Chair Point Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Chair Point Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Chair Point in 1931
Chair Point in 1931 (1931)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, U.S. Forest Service, and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Chair Point in 1953
Chair Point in 1953 (1953)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, U.S. Forest Service, and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Chair Point in 1953
Chair Point in 1953 (1953)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, U.S. Forest Service, and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Chair Point in 1953
Chair Point in 1953 (1953)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, U.S. Forest Service, and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Chair Point in 2001
Chair Point in 2001 (2001)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, U.S. Forest Service, and Gary Weber, via firelookout.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 the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1980
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1931

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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: design, height, staffing, 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: 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, height, 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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