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Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho

Diablo Lookout

Also known as Diablo Mountain

A 1965 R-6 cab on a site used since 1926, in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness; volunteer-staffed and reached by a hike-in trail.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

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

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
About 11.5 miles round trip, out and back, with about 1,700 feet of climbing, from the Big Sand Lake trailhead near Elk Summit; a 2013 trip report recommends July to October.
Staffing
Staffed by volunteers (as of 2021)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingR-6 cab with catwalk on a 10-foot concrete baseThe designs: R-6, L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
7,461 ft (2,274 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Clearwater National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Idaho County, Idaho
Coordinates
46.30131, −114.61844 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-diablo

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 4.0 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. 1926 BuiltCabin, per firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts; the register says a gable-roofed L-4 ground cabSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  2. 1930 Replaced by a new structureL-4 cab replaced the 1926 cabin, per firelookout.com and Idaho Fire LookoutsSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  3. No record between 1930 and 1965
  4. 1965 BuiltCurrent R-6 cab on a 10-foot concrete base; replaced the L-4Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  5. No record between 1965 and 1992
  6. 1992 StaffedSteve KallingSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  7. No record between 1992 and 2009
  8. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 24, 2009, nominated by Gary WeberSource: nhlr.org
  9. 2012 StaffedA successful volunteer staffing program was started.Source: firelookout.org
  10. 2021 StaffedNate Raff, volunteerSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  11. 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.

Diablo Lookout stands in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness on the Clearwater National Forest, in Idaho County, Idaho.1,2 The register and firelookout.com both give its elevation as 7,461 feet; Idaho Fire Lookouts gives 7,641.1,2,3

The first building on the site was a cabin in 1926, though sources differ on its type.1,2,3 The register describes a gable-roofed L-4 ground cab built that year, while firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts describe a cabin in 1926 that was replaced with an L-4 cab in 1930.1,2,3 The present cab is an R-6 design, built in 1965 on a 10-foot concrete base and replacing the older L-4.1,2,3 Keeping Watch describes the R-6 cab as a 15-by-15-foot design with a flat roof that reaches over the deck for shade.4

Staffing has been by volunteers in recent years.3 Idaho Fire Lookouts lists Steve Kalling in 1992 and Nate Raff, a volunteer, in 2021.3 Keeping Watch says lookouts staff the tower during peak fire season, and it features an interview with Bill Moore, who now runs the volunteer program.4 Firelookout.com says the cab has been used on an emergency basis since the early 1980s, a detail the other sources do not confirm.2

The pages read name no specific fire spotted from the tower.

The register recorded the lookout on April 24, 2009, on a nomination by Gary Weber.1 Idaho Fire Lookouts says the tower was restored a few years before its 2021 article, and that a memorial cross hangs inside for a young man who died on the mountain in 1995.3

Diablo is a hike-in lookout.3 A 2013 trip report describes an 11.5-mile out-and-back route with about 1,700 feet of climbing, starting from the Big Sand Lake trailhead near Elk Summit, and recommends July through October.5 The road ends at Elk Summit Recreation Area on the edge of the wilderness.5 The register lists the Powell Ranger District as a cooperator.1 The sources do not say whether visitors may go inside the cab, so check with the district before planning a trip.

  1. Diablo Lookout, US 785, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/diablo-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Diablo Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/diablo.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Diablo Mountain Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/selway-region/diablo-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Diablo Mountain, Keeping Watch, University of Idaho Library, https://cdil.lib.uidaho.edu/keeping-watch/items/diablo-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Diablo Lookout trip report, Evans Outdoor Adventures, https://www.evansoutdooradventures.com/idahos-selway-bitterroot-wilderness-diablo-lookout-july-2013/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Diablo Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Diablo Lookout in 2013
Diablo Lookout in 2013 (2013)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Diablo Lookout
Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Diablo interior in 2013
Diablo interior in 2013 (2013)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Diablo in 1954
Diablo in 1954 (1954)Photo: the Montana Memory Project and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Diablo in 1963
Diablo in 1963 (1963)Photo: the Montana Memory Project and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Diablo in 1998
Diablo in 1998 (1998)Photo: the Montana Memory Project and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Diablo Mountain Lookout
Diablo Mountain LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.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.

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 location by 580 m.

    • Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com): 46.30131, −114.61844
    • NHLR: 46.29611, −114.61750
    • FFLA: 46.29622, −114.61786
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 46.29622, −114.61786
    • Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports: 46.29611, −114.61750

    The map uses the position from Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com).

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1965
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1926

    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, 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, 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
  4. Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com) Gave us: location, staffing, 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 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
  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, agency, 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.