Fire lookout · Shoshone County, Idaho
Kellogg Peak Lookout (replica)
Also known as Kellogg Peak
Shoshone County, Idaho, replica L-4 cab built by Silver Mountain Ski Resort in 1997 on the footings of a 1934 pole lookout; reached by gondola.
- Replica
- Open to the public
- Verified
Replica: A replica stands here, not the original structure. A 1997 replica on the original footings; one guide says it has fallen into some disrepair
Visit & stay
Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.
Access
Open to the public. Reached by the Silver Mountain gondola, sold as a lift ticket; driving to the trailhead is prohibited
- Can you climb it?
- Unknown
- Road to the top?
- No, you have to hike
- Trail
- Intermediate trail reachable only from the gondola: 1.85 miles one way, 870 ft gain (Silver Mountain)
- Staffing
- Unknown
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Ground-level cabL-4 cab; 1997 replica of the original 20-foot pole towerThe design: L-4
- Built of
- WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
- Built
- 1934
- Height
- 20 ft (6.1 m)
- Elevation
- 6,297 ft (1,919 m)
- Agency
- Silver Mountain Ski Resort
- Land
- Federal land
- Location
- Shoshone County, Idaho
- Coordinates
- 47.48852, −116.12846
- Registers
- Not on a lookout register
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-id-kellogg-peak-replica
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.
A replica stands here. The view is from its site at 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
- 1934 BuiltOriginal 20-foot pole tower with L-4 cab, approximately 1934 (one trail page says 1935)Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
- 1934 First staffedGeorge Howard listed for 1934 and 1935 (Wallace Press-Times)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
- 1942 StaffedLes Williamson listed 1942 to 1945 (USFS Photo Collection)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
- 1950 DestroyedOriginal tower destroyed about 1950Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, willhiteweb.com
- No record between 1950 and 1975
- 1975 StaffedMike Dunn listed for 1975 (news article)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
- No record between 1975 and 1997
- 1997 RebuiltSilver Mountain Ski Resort built the current replica L-4 cab on the original four 1934 footingsSources: firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
- TodayA replica standsA copy stands here, not the original structure.
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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
The original Kellogg Peak lookout was a 20-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab, about three miles south of Kellogg in Shoshone County, Idaho.1,2 The Forest Service developed it in 1934, according to the firelookout.com page, but the Silver Mountain trail page calls the original a 1935 lookout, so the sources disagree on the year.1,3
The earliest name listed is George Howard, for 1934 and 1935.2 Les Williamson is listed from 1942 through 1945, and Mike Dunn for 1975.2
The original tower was destroyed about 1950.1 Idaho Fire Lookouts and willhiteweb.com both give 1950 as the year.2,4 In 1997, Silver Mountain Ski Resort built the current L-4 cab as a replica that is accessible to people with disabilities and draws visitors.1,5
The builders used the original four concrete footings poured in 1934.4 A retired Forest Service forester, Phil Ruff, pushed for the replica, and a Forest Service archaeologist found 1929 plans to work from.4
Idaho Fire Lookouts reports that staffing was sporadic at first, that it has gone unstaffed in recent years, and that it seems to need repairs.2 willhiteweb.com is less certain and suggests volunteers may have staffed it for educational purposes.4
Visitors reach the replica by the Silver Mountain gondola.4 The intermediate trail gains 870 feet in 1.85 miles one way, can be reached only from the gondola, and cars may not drive to its trailhead.3 The Lookout Structures list shows it as a standing ground replica.6
- Kellogg Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/kelloggpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
- Kellogg Peak Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/st-joe-clearwater-region/kellogg-peak-lo/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
- Hiking, Silver Mountain Resort, https://www.silvermt.com/index.php/mountain/hiking (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
- Kellogg Peak Lookout, willhiteweb.com, https://willhiteweb.com/idaho_lookouts/kellogg_peak/tower_027.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
- Kellogg Peak, Forest Lookouts, https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/kellogg-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
- Lookout Structures list (Idaho), firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/id (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
Photos
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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) 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
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page (opens another site) Gave us: elevation, what it is built of, design, height, agency, dates, 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 LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) (opens another site) Gave us: 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
- 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
- Hiking (Silver Mountain Resort) (opens another site)
- Kellogg Peak Lookout (willhiteweb.com) (opens another site)
- FFLA Idaho lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Kellogg Peak on firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra) (opens another site)
- Kellogg Peak Lookout on idahofirelookouts.com (opens another site)
- Kellogg Peak on Forest Lookouts, western US (Ron Kemnow) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.