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Fire lookout · Clearwater County, Idaho

Horseshoe Lake Lookout SIte

Clearwater County lookout: a 1921 log platform burned in 1961, and a 50-ft L-4 tower moved in from Indian Grave in 1962 was gone by 1983 or 1985, leaving foundation piers.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The 1962 replacement tower was gone by 1983 or 1985, depending on the source. The register says concrete foundation piers remain.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Reached by Forest Road 500 from Highway 12, per SummitPost. No closure notice found in our sources.

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Idaho Fire Lookouts tags the site Drive-Up. SummitPost calls the access road very narrow. No tower stands there to climb.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab on a 50-foot treated timber tower (1962 replacement), after a 1921 log platformThe design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1921
Height
50 ft (15.2 m)
Elevation
6,995 ft (2,132 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Clearwater County, Idaho
Coordinates
46.57013, −115.06762 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-horseshoe-lake

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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.7 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. 1921 BuiltOriginal log platform, built about 1921Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  2. No record between 1921 and 1961
  3. 1961 BurnedThe original log platform burned in a forest fireSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1962 Replaced by a new structureA 50-foot L-4 tower moved from Indian Grave Lookout replaced the platformSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  5. 1963 StaffedRoger C Garrett listed as known staff, per Idaho Fire LookoutsSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  6. No record between 1963 and 1983
  7. 1983 DestroyedIdaho Fire Lookouts and the Idaho page citing Kresek date destruction to 1983. Firelookout.com says it stood on site until 1983. The register gives 1985.Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1985 BurnedThe register says the replacement tower burned in a 1985 forest fireSource: firetower.org
  9. 1985 RemovedThe register's Removed field gives 1985Source: firetower.org
  10. No record between 1985 and 2016
  11. 2016 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register, nominated by Roger LordSource: firetower.org
  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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Horseshoe Lake Lookout was in Clearwater County, Idaho, on the Clearwater National Forest.1 The first lookout on the site was a log platform, which our sources date to about 1921.1,2,3

A forest fire burned that platform in 1961.1,4,5 In 1962 a 50-foot treated timber tower with an L-4 cab took its place. It had been moved from the Indian Grave Lookout.1,2,3

Only one staff member is named in our sources. Idaho Fire Lookouts lists Roger C Garrett for 1963, citing a former lookout registry.3 We found no other staff names.

The sources disagree about when the replacement tower was lost.1,2,3,4 Firelookout.com says it stayed on the site until 1983.2 Idaho Fire Lookouts and an Idaho page that cites Kresek both date its destruction to 1983.3,4 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register says it burned in a 1985 forest fire and was removed that year.1 We could not settle the date.

The register says only concrete foundation piers are left at the site.1 We found no other source that describes what remains there.

SummitPost describes a summit it calls Horseshoe Summit, which it says is open ground with sparse trees and wide views.5 It says a lookout was established on that summit in 1921 and that rocks spelling out Horseshoe remain there.5 It also reports competing names: a viewpoint in some accounts, and the lake's name in others, even though the lake lies roughly two miles off.5 Our sources do not settle whether that summit and the register's site are the same place.

SummitPost gives the route from Highway 12 along the Lolo Motorway, on Forest Road 500, and warns that the road is very narrow.5 Idaho Fire Lookouts tags the site as drive-up.3 We found no closure notice. No tower stands there to climb.

  1. Horseshoe Lake Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/id/horseshoe-lake-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Horseshoe Lake Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/horseshoelake.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Horseshoe Lake Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/st-joe-clearwater-region/horseshoe-lake-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Horseshoe Lake, Forest Lookouts (Idaho), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/horseshoe-lake.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Horseshoe Summit, SummitPost, https://www.summitpost.org/horseshoe-summit/830831 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Horseshoe Lake Lookout SIte
Photo: Roger Lord, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · 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 the location by 930 m.

    • FFLOS: 46.57013, −115.06762
    • Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com): 46.56231, −115.06345

    The map uses the position from FFLOS.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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: 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: dates, 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: design, height, 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, height, 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.