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Fire lookout · Lemhi County, Idaho

Duck Creek Point Lookout

A 1935 10x10 cab on a log base in Lemhi County's Yellowjacket Mountains, unstaffed since the 1950s and last visited in 2010; a remote hike-in.

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?
Unknown
Trail
2010 visit report: 60 miles from the nearest paved road; 1.7 mile hike; road to the lookout fairly rough, best by ATV or dirt bike.
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2010)

Facts

Status
Standing sources disagree
Type
Two-story building10x10 cab similar to an L-5 on a 9-foot log baseThe design: L-5
Built of
LogsGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
9,130 ft (2,783 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Lemhi County, Idaho
Coordinates
44.91035, −114.49740
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-duck-creek-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. 1935 BuiltBuilt as a ground house; later two-story with a log baseSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1944 Altered9-foot log base added (register gives 1944; Idaho list gives 1943)Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  3. 1950 AbandonedSources give only 'the 1950s' for last use and abandonment; 1950 is a placeholder for the decadeSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  4. No record between 1950 and 1975
  5. 1975 EventForest inventory of buildings reportedly recommended the building be burned (quoted in the 1982 history)Source: idahoaclimbingguide.com
  6. No record between 1975 and 2004
  7. 2004 RestoredNew roofSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  8. 2010 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 22, 2010 as US 886, ID 80; visit report dated July 9, 2010Source: 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.

Duck Creek Point Lookout stands at about 9,130 feet (2,783 meters) in Lemhi County, in the Yellowjacket Mountains, which are part of the Salmon River Mountains.1,2

The register describes a 10-by-10-foot cab similar to an L-5, built in 1935 as a ground house.1 A log base was added later: the register dates it to 1944, and the Idaho lookout list to 1943.1,3 A Forest Lookouts page describes the building as a two-story log lookout with an L-5 cab.4

The Idaho list dates the lookout's abandonment to the 1950s, and firelookout.com says it was last used in that decade.3,5 A 1982 history by Bing Young, quoted on a climbing guide site, says the lookout fell out of use ahead of many of the Depression-era lookouts, and that the road was never finished to Duck Creek Point.2 The same guide, quoting that history, reports a 1975 forest inventory that recommended the building be burned.2

The register notes a new roof in 2004 and says the lookout was no longer staffed by its 2010 visit.1 The register added it on July 22, 2010, after a July 9, 2010 visit that found the nearest paved road 60 miles away, a 1.7-mile hike, and a fairly rough road to the lookout that is best taken by ATV or dirt bike.1

Today the last visit report is from 2010, so the present condition is unknown. The 1982 history and the 2010 visit also appear to disagree on whether a road reaches the lookout.2,1 The sources also disagree on the forest name: the register says Salmon-Challis, while firelookout.com and the Idaho list say Salmon National Forest.1,5,3 Check the forest before you plan a trip, and do not assume the cab is open to climbing.

  1. Duck Creek Point Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/duck-creek-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Duck Creek Point, IDAHO: A Climbing Guide, https://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/bookupdates/duck-creek-point/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Duck Creek Point Lookout – Idaho Fire Lookouts, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/southern-idaho/duck-creek-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Duck Creek Point - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts, https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/duck-creek-point.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Duck Creek Point Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/duckcreekpt.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Duck Creek Point Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Duck Creek Point Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Duck Creek Point in 2007
Duck Creek Point in 2007 (2007)Photo: Dave Nobles, via firelookout.com · source
Duck Creek Point Lookout
Duck Creek Point LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.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 whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Standing
    • NHLR: Standing
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Standing
    • Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com): Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered. idahofirelookouts.com's status is read from a short summary.

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: 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: 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: what it is built of, design, 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, 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

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