Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho
Hidden Peak Lookout
Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness lookout: a 1927 shake cabin, a 1931 L-4 cab, then the present 1961 R-6 cab on a 10-foot concrete base; open to the public, reached by a long hike.
- Standing
- Open to the public
- Verified
Visit & stay
Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.
Access
Open to the public. Open to public use, per the National Historic Lookout Register; in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness.
- Can you climb it?
- Unknown
- Road to the top?
- No, you have to hike
- Trail
- Long hike on trails in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, per an Idaho climbing guide.
- Staffing
- Unknown
Facts
- Status
- sources disagree
- Built of
- WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
- Built
- 1927
- Height
- 10 ft (3.0 m)
- Elevation
- 7,826 ft (2,385 m)
- Agency
- U.S. Forest Service
- Land
- Federal land
- Location
- Idaho County, Idaho
- Coordinates
- 46.37122, −114.46437
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-id-hidden-peak
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 3.9 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
- 1927 BuiltFirst lookout: a 16-by-16-foot shake cabin.Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
- 1931 Replaced by a new structureAn L-4 cab replaced the shake cabin.Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
- No record between 1931 and 1961
- 1961 BuiltPresent R-6 cab on a 10-foot concrete base. The Forest Service statement quoted by the climbing guide says it was placed three years before wilderness designation.Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
- 1962 StaffedBill Moore is the one known staffer listed by Idaho Fire Lookouts.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
- No record between 1962 and 2007
- 2007 FireLookout survived a fire that burned around and over it, despite a decision to make no effort to protect it; it had been identified for disposal.Source: firelookout.org
- 2012 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterAdded to the National Historic Lookout Register; registered July 23, 2012.Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
The first lookout on Hidden Peak was a 16-by-16-foot shake cabin, built in 1927.1,2,3 An L-4 cab took its place in 1931.1,2,3 The present structure is an R-6 cab, built in 1961, on a 10-foot concrete base.1,2,3 A Forest Service statement quoted in an Idaho climbing guide says that cab was placed there three years before the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness was designated.3
The register says the tower served for emergency use until the 1970s.1 Idaho Fire Lookouts lists one known staffer, Bill Moore, in 1962.4
The register added the site on July 23, 2012.1,4 It describes the lookout as open to public use, in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness at 7,826 feet, and lists it under the Lolo/Clearwater National Forests.1 The climbing guide calls the summit seldom visited.3 The climbing guide says trails reach the summit, though the hike is long.3
- Hidden Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/hidden-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Hidden Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/hiddenpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Hidden Peak - IDAHO: A Climbing Guide, https://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/bookupdates/hidden-peak-2/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Hidden Peak Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/selway-region/hidden-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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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
- OpenStreetMap: Standing
NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered. idahofirelookouts.com's status is read from a short summary.
Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) 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
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page (opens another site) 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
- Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com) (opens another site) 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports (opens another site) 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
- OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures (opens another site) Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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
- NHLR register entry US 946 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- Hidden Peak - IDAHO: A Climbing Guide (opens another site)
- FFLA Idaho lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports: work on Hidden Peak Lookout (opens another site)
- Hidden Peak on firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra) (opens another site)
- Hidden Peak Lookout on idahofirelookouts.com (opens another site)
- OpenStreetMap way 1312365196 (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.