FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Idaho

Deadhorse Mountain Lookout

Hike-in mountaintop site in Clearwater County, Idaho: cabin and crow's nest in 1914, 40-foot L-4 tower in 1934, destroyed 1961; only two telephone insulators found.

Ruins: Only footings or remains are left. Destroyed in 1961. The Idaho Fire Lookouts search found only two telephone insulators in trees near a large clearing.

Visit & stay

Ruins: footings or remains only. There is no structure to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike

Facts

Status
Ruins
Type
Type unknownLog cabin with a crow's nest (1914); 40-foot L-4 tower on the north point (1934)The design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1914
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Clearwater Timber Protective Association
Land
Unknown
Location
Idaho
Coordinates
46.73630, −115.62876
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-deadhorse-mountain

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 4.1 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. 1914 BuiltLog cabin with a crow's nestSources: idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  2. 1915 EventDead Horse Lookout Cabin listed in the Clearwater TPA 9th annual reportSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1919 StaffedMike Andrews to take charge of the lookout, per the Clearwater Republican (June 20, 1919)Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1921 StaffedAndrews listed for 1921 by Idaho Fire Lookouts; an August 5, 1921 item names R. M. Crow at the lookoutSources: idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1934 Built40-foot L-4 tower on the north point; patrol point one mile southeastSources: idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1934 and 1961
  7. 1961 DestroyedDestroyed; no cause givenSources: idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1961 and 2022
  9. 2022 Condition assessmentMountaintop search found two telephone insulators in trees near a clearing; page dated October 21, 2022Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  10. TodayRuinsOnly footings or remains are left.

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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The earliest structure the sources name on Deadhorse Mountain was a log cabin with a crow's nest, dated to 1914.1,2 A 1915 annual report from the Clearwater TPA lists a "Dead Horse Lookout Cabin," so the cabin was standing by then.3

In 1934 a 40-foot L-4 tower went up on the north point, with a patrol point one mile to the southeast.1,2

Sources disagree on who ran the site. The Idaho Fire Lookouts page lists the Clearwater National Forest, while firelookout.com gives the agency as CTPA and the Forest Lookouts page names the Clearwater Timber Protective Association.1,2,3

In June 1919 the Clearwater Republican reported that Mike Andrews would take charge of the lookout.3 The Idaho Fire Lookouts page lists Andrews for both 1919 and 1921.1 An August 1921 item from the same paper names R. M. Crow as coming in from the Dead Horse lookout.3 The sources do not say whether both men were there that year.1,3

The tower was destroyed in 1961.1,2

The Idaho Fire Lookouts team scoured the mountaintop and found only two telephone insulators, set in two trees near a large clearing.1 Their page is dated October 21, 2022.1 The lookout was a hike-in site, and the sources do not say whether the site is open to visitors.1

  1. Deadhorse Mountain Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/st-joe-clearwater-region/deadhorse-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Dead Horse Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, http://firelookout.com/id/deadhorse.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Deadhorse, Forest Lookouts (idaholookouts.weebly.com), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/deadhorse.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Sources

  1. Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com) Gave us: name, location, status, 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
  2. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, 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.