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Fire lookout · Boundary County, Idaho

Deer Ridge Lookout

A lookout site since the 1920s, rebuilt three times before the current 1965 R-6 flattop; staffed into the 1970s and now a drive-up rental.

Visit & stay

You can rent this lookout for overnight stays through recreation.gov.

Getting there
The lookout can be accessed by car and the gravel road to the lookout is well maintained.

Overview Deer Ridge Lookout, perched on a 40 foot timber frame, boasts excellent views of the Purcell mountain ranges of Northern Idaho, Canada and Montana. Located 24 miles northeast of Bonners Ferry, guests can enjoy magnificent scenery, hiking and wildlife watching. The lookout can be accessed by car and the gravel road to the lookout is well maintained. Recreation Hiking and viewing the scenery are two well-loved activities at the facility. Hiking trails from the lookout follow along the Deer Ridge and Ruby Ridge. Huckleberry picking is enjoyed from August to September. Fly fishing is available in the Moyie River, where anglers can cast for rainbow and brook trout. Make sure to check all regulations and secure all permits with the local Fish and Wildlife department before heading out. Facilities The 14' X 14' cabin has a wraparound catwalk, with a trap door that lifts for access to the tower's entrance staircase. The staircase is steep and is not recommended for small children. Furnishings include two twin beds, two chairs, a dresser and a table. A pit toilet is located 50 yards away. No water is available. Guests should bring plenty of water for drinking, cooking and washing. Cooking is not permitted in the lookout. All cooking should be done outside and at ground level. Guests should bring a tarp to block the rain. Other items to bring include bedding, a first aid kit, towels and flashlights. Natural Features The Lower Kootenai River Area (Bonners Ferry District) is bordered by the Purcell and Cabinet Ranges and the Montana Line on the east, the rugged Selkirk Range on the west, and the Canadian border to the north. The Kootenai River meanders north and west through the District, and the Moyie River joins it from the north. Peaks are moderate in elevation (6000 - 7000 ft.) but are rugged due to heavy glaciation. They are renowned for their mountaineering challenge. The lookout is perched atop Deer Ridge at an elevation of 4,755 feet. The view from the facility includes the rugged Purcell mountain peaks and the beautiful Moyie River Valley and Moyie Springs. Elk, deer and black bears are among the wildlife in the area. Please be aware of and practice bear safety. Nearby Attractions The nearest town for groceries is Bonners Ferry, about 24 miles from the lookout.

Book on recreation.gov

Rental details from recreation.gov, checked 19 Oct 2026. Rules, fees and seasons change, so confirm on the booking page before you go. Data source: ridb.recreation.gov

Access

Open to the public. Forest Service rental cabin, drive-up via well-maintained gravel road; entry by combination lock obtained from ranger district before arrival

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Reachable by car via gravel road; nearby hiking along Deer Ridge and Ruby Ridge
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 1975)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 flattop cab with wraparound catwalk on 41-foot timber towerThe designs: R-6, L-4, Cupola house
Built of
Wood
Built
1920
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
4,755 ft (1,449 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Boundary County, Idaho
Coordinates
48.84528, −116.10306
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 19 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-deer-ridge

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. 1920 BuiltFirst lookout structure at Deer Ridge was a cupola cabin, built in the 1920sSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  2. 1933 StaffedEarliest named staff on record: William KuntzSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  3. 1935 Replaced by a new structureL-4 cab built on a 20-foot pole towerSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  4. 1949 Replaced by a new structureL-4 cab built on a 40-foot timber towerSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  5. No record between 1949 and 1965
  6. 1965 BuiltCurrent 41-foot R-6 flattop cab with catwalk builtSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  7. 1975 Last staffedLast staffing on record: Paula Stueve and Kim Norwood, late seasonSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  8. No record between 1975 and 2005
  9. 2005 Opened as a rentalRental lookout on the Bonners Ferry district was re-opened after tower work.Source: firelookout.org
  10. 2005 RestoredLightning protection was re-installed after other tower work was finished, as part of re-opening this rental lookout.Source: firelookout.org
  11. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate registered per NHLR detail page: April 6, 2009Source: NHLR register entry
  12. 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.

Deer Ridge has carried a fire lookout in one form or another since the 1920s, when the first structure here was a simple cupola cabin.1 That was replaced in 1935 by an L-4 cab on a 20-foot pole tower, and again in 1949 by an L-4 on a taller, 40-foot timber tower.2,1 The building standing today, a 41-foot R-6 flattop cab with a wraparound catwalk, went up in 1965 — sources differ slightly on the cab's footprint, with the National Historic Lookout Register giving 15 by 15 feet and Recreation.gov giving 14 by 14 feet.2,3

The lookout, on what was then the Kaniksu National Forest and is now part of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, was staffed for decades. Named lookouts on record run from William Kuntz in 1933 through a long string of seasonal staff into the 1970s, including Bill Odell, Tom Black, and husband-and-wife teams like the Walterses, the Bakers and the Volls.1 The last staffing on record is from 1975, when Paula Stueve and Kim Norwood held the post for a late season.1

The tower has stayed standing and in Forest Service hands, and it's now part of the agency's cabin rental program, perched above the Lower Kootenai River country about 24 miles northeast of Bonners Ferry.2,3

Getting there today is easier than at most lookouts: a well-maintained gravel road reaches the site by car.3 The cabin sleeps two, with twin beds, a table and a dresser, but no running water, and a pit toilet sits fifty yards off. A trap door and steep interior staircase lead up to the catwalk, so the Forest Service discourages young children from staying, and guests get the entry combination only after calling the ranger district ahead of their trip.3 From the catwalk the view takes in the Purcell Mountains reaching into Canada and Montana, and the Moyie River valley below.3

  1. Deer Ridge Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/northern-idaho/deer-ridge-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Deer Ridge Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/deer-ridge-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Deer Ridge Lookout, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Recreation.gov, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234429 (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

October 2022 photo
October 2022 photo (2022)Photo: Karl Brauneis, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Deer Ridge L.O.
Deer Ridge L.OPhoto: Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Deer Ridge Lookout
Deer Ridge LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.com · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, 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. Recreation Information Database (recreation.gov) Gave us: ownership, access, rental details, links Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association: lookout rentals Gave us: rental details, links Forest Fire Lookout Association rentals list (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only (state, name, booking link, manager, closure note), no prose copied. The FFLA says it is not involved in managing any rental program. · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  5. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, 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
  6. 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
  7. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  8. 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
  9. 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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