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Fire lookout · Boise County, Idaho

Jackson Peak Lookout

Boise National Forest lookout first built in 1927; the current flat cab on a concrete base dates to 1979 or 1981 and is staffed in fire season.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Staffed drive-up lookout on the Boise National Forest. The sources do not describe public visits.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Idaho Fire Lookouts lists it as drive-up. The 1927 account describes a trail as the only road up or down, so ask the Boise National Forest about current access.
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingR-6 flat cab on a 10-foot concrete baseThe design: R-6
Built of
Not recorded
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
8,119 ft (2,475 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Boise National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Boise County, Idaho
Coordinates
44.07794, −115.41377
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-jackson-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.

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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. 1927 BuiltFirst lookout, a two-story log structure. The register says it was similar to a California Plan 4A.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  2. 1937 AlteredPhoto evidence suggests it was raised onto a 10-foot log base, per firelookout.com.Source: firelookout.com
  3. No record between 1937 and 1962
  4. 1962 First staffedEarliest known staff listed by Idaho Fire Lookouts (1962-1963).Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  5. No record between 1962 and 1979
  6. 1979 BuiltThe register gives 1979 for the current two-story structure.Source: nhlr.org
  7. 1981 Replaced by a new structureFlat cab on a 10-foot concrete base, per firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts. The Forest Lookouts history page gives 1981 for a two-story flat roof house.Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1988 FireLookout threatened by the Willis Gulch fire along with a nearby private subdivision.Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1988 and 2020
  10. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, September 28, 2020.Source: nhlr.org
  11. 2025 StaffedRoger Lockwood listed as known staff.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  12. 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.

Jackson Peak sits about 10 miles east of Lowman, in Boise County on the Boise National Forest.1,2 The first lookout went up in 1927.2,1 A 1927 Idaho Statesman report, as quoted on one Idaho lookout history site, describes a glass-walled station where a man and his wife lived and worked for the whole fire season.3

The register says the first lookout was similar to a California Plan 4A design.2 A later history describes it as a two-story log structure.3 Photo evidence suggests it was raised onto a 10-foot log base in 1937.1

The date of the current building is not settled. The register says the current two-story structure was built in 1979 and is still staffed each fire season.2 firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts describe a flat cab on a 10-foot concrete base, dated 1981.1,4 The Forest Lookouts history page gives 1981 for a two-story flat roof house.3

In July 1988, the Willis Gulch fire threatened the lookout and a nearby private subdivision.3

Idaho Fire Lookouts lists known staff from 1962, and its most recent entry is Roger Lockwood, dated 2025.4

The register added the lookout on September 28, 2020.2

The 1927 account describes a trail as the only road up or down.3 Idaho Fire Lookouts now describes the site as drive-up and staffed.4 Check with the Boise National Forest before you plan a visit.

  1. Jackson Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/jacksonpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Jackson Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/jackson-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Jackson Peak - Forest Lookouts, idaholookouts.weebly.com, https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/jackson-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Jackson Peak Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/southern-idaho/jackson-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Jackson Peak Lookout - 2010
Jackson Peak Lookout - 2010 (2010)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1936
1936 (1936)Photo: US Forest Service, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2023 photo
2023 photo (2023)Photo: Roger Lockwood, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2023 photo
2023 photo (2023)Photo: Roger Lockwood, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Original lookout
Original lookoutPhoto: Roger Lockwood, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Jackson Peak in 1936
Jackson Peak in 1936 (1936)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Tom Brakenseik and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Jackson Peak in 1937
Jackson Peak in 1937 (1937)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Tom Brakenseik and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Jackson Peak in 1937
Jackson Peak in 1937 (1937)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Tom Brakenseik and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Jackson Peak in 1937
Jackson Peak in 1937 (1937)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Tom Brakenseik and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Jackson Peak L.O.
Jackson Peak L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service, Tom Brakenseik and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Jackson Peak in 1979
Jackson Peak in 1979 (1979)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Tom Brakenseik and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Jackson Peak L.O.
Jackson Peak L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service, Tom Brakenseik and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Jackson Peak Lookout
Jackson Peak 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 year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1979
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1927

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

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: height, staffing, 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 LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) 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, 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.