FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lemhi County, Idaho

Granite Mountain Lookout

L-4 cab in Salmon-Challis NF, dated 1934 after a 1923 camp; on standby from the 1960s; restored 2002; NHLR-registered 2003.

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
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-4The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,280 ft (1,914 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Lemhi County, Idaho
Coordinates
45.55017, −113.98117
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-granite-mountain-2

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. 1923 First staffedLookout man worked from a tent before the cab; Idaho Heritage Trust and local history pageSources: idahoheritagetrust.org, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1934 BuiltL-4 cab per NHLR, firelookout.com, Idaho Fire Lookouts and local history page. Idaho Heritage Trust gives 1929 (R4 Plan 80) insteadSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  3. 1935 StaffedNewspaper notice: a lookout stationed there, wife visitingSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1939 StaffedMr. Allen stationed there for the summerSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1943 StaffedChloe and Joy Bradley ran the station and its fire weather instrumentsSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1943 and 1959
  7. 1959 EventForest summer fire fighting school completed at the lookoutSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1960 Last staffedLast used for emergencies per firelookout.com; NHLR and Idaho Fire Lookouts say the 1960sSources: firelookout.com, nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  9. No record between 1960 and 2002
  10. 2002 RestoredRestoration by North Fork Ranger District with volunteers; Idaho Fire Lookouts text says 2003Sources: nhlr.org, idaholookouts.weebly.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  11. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, September 18, 2003Source: nhlr.org
  12. 2014 Condition assessmentA condition assessment was completed.Source: firelookout.org
  13. 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.

Granite Mountain is in the Salmon-Challis National Forest, in Lemhi County, Idaho.1 Its history starts before the cabin. By 1923 a lookout man was working there from a tent with an alidade, a sighting tool.2 The Idaho Heritage Trust says the site was the one place the smoke chaser went without horses, because the steep ground offered little water or grass.1 A 1924 forest report says no horses were kept at the station.2

The cab is an L-4 design, which the National Historic Lookout Register calls a classic live-in lookout.3 Most sources date it to 1934.3,4,5,2 The Idaho Heritage Trust instead gives 1929 and a standard R4 Plan 80.1 I have used 1934 because four sources agree on it, but the date is not fully settled.

A local history page quotes old newspaper notices about who worked the station.2 In 1935 a notice says a lookout's wife stayed a few days with her husband, who was stationed there.2 In the summer of 1939 a Mr. Allen was stationed there.2 In 1943 two women, Chloe and Joy Bradley, ran the station and its fire weather instruments.2 In 1959 the forest held its summer fire fighting school at the lookout.2

NHLR says the lookout was active for 30 years and went on standby in the 1960s.3 Firelookout.com dates its last emergency use to 1960.4 Idaho Fire Lookouts describes emergency service in the 1960s.5 Restoration began in June 2002, with a new wood roof, new shingles and removal of exterior lead-based paint.2 NHLR says the work was done with help from the North Fork Volunteer Fire Department, Passport In Time and the Forest Heritage staff.3 Idaho Fire Lookouts gives 2002 in its timeline but calls the restoration a 2003 project.5

The National Historic Lookout Register records the lookout as registered on September 18, 2003.3 Firelookout.com says the restored cabin was planned for the Recreation Rental program.4 I could not confirm that it is rentable now. The forest's camping page lists one lookout among its overnight rentals but does not name it.6 Check with the Salmon-Challis National Forest before planning a trip, since the sources do not say how the cabin is reached.

  1. Granite Mountain Lookout, Idaho Heritage Trust, https://www.idahoheritagetrust.org/projects-grants/granite-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Granite Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (idaholookouts.weebly.com), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/granite-mountain1.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Granite Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/granite-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Granite Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/granitemtn319.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Granite Mountain Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/southern-idaho/granite-mountain-lookout-2/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Camping and Cabins, Salmon-Challis National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/salmon-challis/recreation/camping-cabins (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Granite Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Granite Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Granite Mtn. in 2001
Granite Mtn. in 2001 (2001)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Robert Tincher, via firelookout.com · source
Granite Mtn. in 2001
Granite Mtn. in 2001 (2001)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Robert Tincher, via firelookout.com · source
Granite Mtn. L.O. Restored
Granite Mtn. L.O. RestoredPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum and Robert Tincher, via firelookout.com · source
Granite Mountain Lookout
Granite 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.

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: what it is built of, design, dates, 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 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, status, agency, 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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