FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Shoshone County, Idaho

Conrad Peak Lookout

A 1955 L-4 cab on a 50-foot tower on Conrad Peak. Not staffed since 1984, drive-up, in disrepair; restoration status unclear.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Drive-up site on National Forest land. No closure found in the sources. Climbing rules are not documented; ask the St. Joe Ranger District before climbing.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Drive-up site 17 miles southeast of Avery, per firelookout.com. Sources do not describe climbing conditions.
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 1984)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 hip-roof cab with catwalk on a 50-foot treated timber tower; replaced a log cupolaThe designs: L-4, Cupola house
Built of
Wood
Built
1924
Height
50 ft (15.2 m)
Elevation
6,338 ft (1,932 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Shoshone County, Idaho
Coordinates
47.15184, −115.46563
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-conrad-peak

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 cupola cabin, first lookout on the summit. The register dates the cupola it replaced to 1931.Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1930 StaffedPaul Rasor, as listed by Idaho Fire LookoutsSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  3. 1931 StaffedHerman Fricke, as listed by Idaho Fire LookoutsSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  4. No record between 1931 and 1955
  5. 1955 Replaced by a new structureCurrent 50-foot treated timber tower with L-4 cab built, replacing the log cupolaSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  6. No record between 1955 and 1984
  7. 1984 Last staffedLast year staffed, per Idaho Fire LookoutsSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  8. 1995 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, October 2, 1995Source: nhlr.org
  9. 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.

Conrad Peak sits about 17 miles southeast of Avery in Shoshone County, Idaho.1 Its first lookout was a log cupola cabin, and the sources disagree on the year. Firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts date it to 1924, while the register says the cupola it replaced was built in 1931.1,2,3

The current 50-foot tower with an L-4 cab went up in 1955 and replaced the cupola.3,1 Rex's Fire Lookout page gives 53 feet and credits that figure to Kresek. I used the register's 50 feet.4,3

Idaho Fire Lookouts lists Paul Rasor as staff in 1930 and Herman Fricke in 1931.2 It also profiles John "Red" Dennis, an undated lookout whose extra bacon rations made him notorious.2

The site says the tower was last staffed in 1984.2 Firelookout.com says it has not been staffed since the 1980s.1 The register notes that it is no longer used for fire detection, and it was listed there on October 2, 1995.3

The restoration picture is unclear. Firelookout.com says a partnership between the FFLA Idaho Chapter and the St. Joe is carrying out restoration work.1 Idaho Fire Lookouts says restoration work is proposed, and that as of summer 2020 no work appeared to be in process.2 I found no newer report.

Today the site lists the tower as drive-up and abandoned.2 It shows disrepair, and the site's authors think it is not too far gone to save.2 I found no climbing rules in the sources, so check with the St. Joe Ranger District before going up.

  1. Conrad Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/conradpk.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Conrad Peak Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/st-joe-clearwater-region/conrad-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Conrad Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/conrad-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Conrad Peak - Forest Lookouts, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/conrad-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Conrad Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
August 2012
August 2012 (2012)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Interior, August 2012
Interior, August 2012 (2012)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1931
1931 (1931)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Conrad Peak in 1927
Conrad Peak in 1927 (1927)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Conrad Peak in 1931
Conrad Peak in 1931 (1931)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Conrad Peak in 1978
Conrad Peak in 1978 (1978)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Conrad Peak L.O.
Conrad Peak L.OPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum and Gary Weber, 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, 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, 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) 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, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.