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Fire lookout · Clearwater County, Idaho

Junction Mountain Lookout

A 1955 L-4 cab on a 53-ft treated-lumber tower replaced a c.1931 log-crib lookout in Clearwater National Forest; abandoned since the 1970s and listed as a hike-in.

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?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Idaho Fire Lookouts lists the site as a hike-in. No trail length or visitor access rules were found in the sources read.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing sources disagree
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab on a 53-ft treated-lumber towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Height
53 ft (16.2 m)
Elevation
6,457 ft (1,968 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Clearwater County, Idaho
Coordinates
46.69432, −115.27790
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-junction-mountain

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

  1. 1931 BuiltEarlier lookout on the site: log crib foundation topped with an L-4 cab. Idaho Fire Lookouts prints the date as 19341.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1931 and 1955
  3. 1955 BuiltPresent 53-ft treated-lumber tower with L-4 cab; replaced the 1931 lookout on the siteSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  4. No record between 1955 and 1970
  5. 1970 AbandonedSource: Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com)
  6. No record between 1970 and 2014
  7. 2014 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 2, 2014 as US 1013, ID 136; nominated by Luke ChannerSource: nhlr.org
  8. 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.

Junction Mountain Lookout stands in Clearwater County, Idaho, within the Clearwater National Forest, about two miles southwest of the Kelly Creek Ranger Station.1,2 The first lookout here was an L-4 cab on a log crib base, dating to about 1931.1,2 Idaho Fire Lookouts prints that earlier date as 19341, which looks like a typo.3

The present tower went up in 1955. It is a 53-foot structure of treated lumber with an L-4 cab, and it replaced the older log crib lookout on the site.1,2,3

According to the register, the windows and lower stairs are gone.1 Sources date its abandonment to the 1970s.2,3 The register recorded the site on September 2, 2014.1

Staffing history is undocumented.3 Idaho Fire Lookouts says it does not yet have one for this tower.3 The same site lists it as a hike-in.3 No source read gives visitor access rules or a recent condition report, so check with the Clearwater National Forest before going.

  1. Junction Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/junction-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Junction Mountain Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/junctionmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Junction Mountain Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/st-joe-clearwater-region/junction-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

July 2014
July 2014 (2014)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cabin interior (July 2014
Cabin interior (July 2014 (2014)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Junction Mtn. in 1949
Junction Mtn. in 1949 (1949)Photo: Gary Weber, Mark Anderson and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Junction Mtn. in 1979
Junction Mtn. in 1979 (1979)Photo: Gary Weber, Mark Anderson and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Junction Mtn. in 1979
Junction Mtn. in 1979 (1979)Photo: Gary Weber, Mark Anderson and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Junction Mtn. L.O.
Junction Mtn. L.OPhoto: Gary Weber, Mark Anderson and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Junction Mtn. in 2014
Junction Mtn. in 2014 (2014)Photo: Gary Weber, Mark Anderson and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Junction Mountain Lookout
Junction 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.

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

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered. idahofirelookouts.com's status is read from a short summary.

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1955
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1931

    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: what it is built of, design, 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: dates, 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, 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.