FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Valley County, Idaho

Gold Fork Lookout

Boise NF Gold Fork lookout (Valley County): a 1918-20 rock-ledge platform, a 1933 L-4 cabin moved in 1988 to the Crawford Work Center near Cascade; sources disagree on elevation.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at the Crawford Work Center

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. Original platform site listed as gone; the 1933 cabin moved in 1988 to the Crawford Forest Work Center northeast of Cascade. The latest visual record in the sources is a 2012 register photo caption.

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. Relocated cabin sits at the Forest Service's Crawford Work Center. Idaho Fire Lookouts marks it drive-up, but no source says whether the public may visit.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Ground-level cabR1/L-4 cabin on a concrete base (1933), replacing an open platform on a rock ledge (c. 1918-20)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1918
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
US Forest Service - Boise National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Valley County, Idaho
Coordinates
44.67137, −115.83580 sources disagree
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-gold-fork

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.

The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.4 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. 1918 BuiltOpen platform on a rock ledge reached by a long staircase; NHLR says the site began operation circa 1918-20, Idaho Fire Lookouts says 1918-1920; firelookout.com says a 6x6 log platform was established in the late 1910sSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1918 and 1933
  3. 1933 BuiltR1/L-4 cabin on a 10-foot 20x20 concrete base, built two miles from the original location (NHLR, Idaho Fire Lookouts); firelookout.com and Forest Lookouts also give 1933Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  4. 1935 StaffedMr. and Mrs. Wayne Barney spent the summer at the station, per a Payette Valley Sentinel item quoted by Forest LookoutsSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1945 StaffedEdna Cantwell of Boise served at the lookout, working out of Cascade, per an Idaho Statesman item quoted by Forest LookoutsSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1955 StaffedAugust 1955 National Archives photos by Bluford W. Muir; captions name Mr. Milton Greenlee as lookout and Ranger LeRoy SpragueSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  7. No record between 1955 and 1988
  8. 1988 MovedCabin moved to the Crawford Forest Work Center northeast of Cascade (NHLR, Idaho Fire Lookouts); firelookout.com says two miles east of Cascade for private use; Forest Lookouts says the Crawford Ranger StationSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  9. No record between 1988 and 2012
  10. 2012 EventNHLR photo caption: cabin relocated to the Crawford Forest Work Center, Cascade, Idaho (courtesy Ron Kemnow)Source: nhlr.org
  11. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 2, 2020 as US 1448, ID 141Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  12. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to the Crawford Work Center.Source: FFLA
  13. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. When it came down is not recorded.

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 register and Idaho Fire Lookouts describe Gold Fork's first lookout as an open platform on a rock ledge, reached by a long staircase.1,2 The register says it began operating around 1918 to 1920.1,2 Firelookout.com instead describes a log platform atop a rock, so the sources differ on how it was built.3

In 1933 an L-4 cabin on a concrete base went up about two miles from the first site.1,2 Forest Lookouts quotes a 1933 note saying it was built at a more accessible spot.4

Forest Lookouts quotes two old newspaper notes about the station. A 1935 item from the Payette Valley Sentinel says Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Barney spent that summer there.4 A 1945 Idaho Statesman item names Edna Cantwell of Boise as a staffer working from Cascade.4 Idaho Fire Lookouts shows photographs taken in August 1955 by Bluford W. Muir, with lookout Milton Greenlee and Ranger LeRoy Sprague at the tower.2

The register says the lookout eventually went out of service, and in 1988 the cabin moved to the Crawford Forest Work Center northeast of Cascade.1 Firelookout.com instead says it went to a spot two miles east of Cascade for private use, and Forest Lookouts says it went to the Crawford Ranger Station.3,4 The original platform site is listed as gone.5

The latest placement in the sources is a 2012 register photo caption, which puts the cabin at the Crawford Forest Work Center.1 Idaho Fire Lookouts marks it drive-up and notes that it was added to the register in 2020.2 The register says the Boise National Forest administers it.1 No source we read says whether the public may visit the work center, so ask the forest before you go. The sources also give two elevations: 4,889 feet on the register, and 7,790 feet on firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts.1,3,2

  1. Gold Fork Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/gold-fork-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Gold Fork Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/west-central/gold-fork-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Gold Fork Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/goldfork.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Gold Fork, Forest Lookouts, https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/gold-fork.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  5. Idaho lookouts list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/id (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Gold Fork Lookout
Gold Fork 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 1.4 km (0.9 mi).

    • FFLA: 44.67137, −115.83580
    • Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com): 44.65839, −115.83738

    The map uses the position from FFLA.

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: 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
  3. 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
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: what it is built of, design, agency, ownership, 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, 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.