FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Shoshone County, Idaho

Grizzly Mountain Lookout

Coeur d'Alene NF ground lookout on Grizzly Mountain, Shoshone County, ID: a 1914 stone-and-frame cabin, a 1929 cupola cabin, abandoned 1955; rock foundations remained at a 2022 visit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned 1955; rock foundations of the cabin and cupola were still on the site at a September 2022 visit

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go. Idaho Fire Lookouts lists the site as drive-up; no source says whether it is open to visitors today

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
The 2022 Idaho Fire Lookouts post describes the site but gives no route or trail

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cab12x12 stone and frame cabin (1914), replaced by a cupola cabin (1929)The design: Cupola house
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1914
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Coeur d'Alene National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Shoshone County, Idaho
Coordinates
47.71328, −116.09385
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-grizzly-mountain

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and a typical height for a lookout like it.

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. 1914 Built12x12 stone and frame cabin; Firelookout.com calls it the first lookout established on the Coeur d'Alene NFSources: firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1928 EventInspection report planned an L-4 type house for 1929 and mentioned a tower being discussedSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1929 Replaced by a new structureCupola cabin replaced the 1914 cabin; four crow's nests along the ridge topSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1930 StaffedRoy Houghtaling (Shoshone News-Press, 07/25/1930)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  5. 1934 StaffedCarl Block (Wallace Press-Times, 06/07/1934)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  6. 1935 StaffedGeorge Adams (Wallace Press-Times, 06/25/1935)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  7. 1937 StaffedFred Bentley (Hardship & Happy Times by Bert Russell)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  8. 1938 StaffedFred Bentley and Mrs. Mary Bentley (Hardship & Happy Times by Bert Russell)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  9. 1944 StaffedAllen Rutherford (Kellogg Evening News, per Idaho Fire Lookouts; Firelookout.com also lists 1944)Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  10. 1946 StaffedMr. and Mrs. Miller; first name differs: Menno on Firelookout.com, Manny on Idaho Fire Lookouts (Kellogg Evening News, 07/01/1946)Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  11. 1955 AbandonedAbandoned; rock foundations of cabin and cupola remain (2022 visit)Sources: idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  12. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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.

Grizzly Mountain stands at 5,950 feet in the Coeur d'Alene National Forest.1 The first lookout there was a 12-by-12-foot cabin of stone and frame, put up in 1914.2,3 Firelookout.com calls it the first lookout established on the forest.2

In 1928 an inspection report, quoted by Forest Lookouts, described plans for an L-4 type house to go up in 1929, and said a tower was also discussed.3 The 1914 cabin was replaced in 1929 by a cupola cabin, and the ridge top held four crow's nest platforms.2,1,3

Idaho Fire Lookouts lists these staff members for 1930 to 1944: Roy Houghtaling in 1930, Carl Block in 1934, George Adams in 1935, Fred Bentley in 1937 and 1938, with Mrs. Mary Bentley in 1938, and Allen Rutherford in 1944.1 Firelookout.com also names Allen Rutherford for 1944.2

The 1946 entry is a married couple, the Millers. The first name differs between the two sites: Firelookout.com gives Menno Miller, while Idaho Fire Lookouts gives Manny Miller, citing a Kellogg Evening News item of July 1, 1946.2,1

The lookout was abandoned in 1955.1,3

A September 2022 Idaho Fire Lookouts post found only rock foundations from the cabin and cupola, plus a little telephone wire.1 Most of the rocks have visitors' names carved on them, and the oldest the writers could make out dates to the mid-1960s.1 Firelookout.com says four crow's nest platforms still stand along the ridge, but the 2022 post says none remain, so the two sources disagree.2,1 Idaho Fire Lookouts lists the site as drive-up.1 No source describes whether the site is open to visitors today.2,1,3

  1. Grizzly Mountain Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/cda-region/grizzly-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Grizzly Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/grizzlymtn.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Grizzly Mountain, Forest Lookouts (Idaho), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/grizzly-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Grizzly Mountain Lookout
Grizzly 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. 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: 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, 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.