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Fire lookout · Adams County, Idaho

Lick Creek Point Lookout (Payette National Forest)

Also known as Lick Creek Point

A 1932 L-4 lookout in the Payette National Forest was replaced in 1978 by an R-6 cab that still stands; it is generally staffed in fire season.

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. Idaho Fire Lookouts lists the site as hike-in and staffed; no source says whether visitors may climb the cab

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Listed as hike-in; the sources give no route details
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingR-6 flat cab on a 10-foot concrete base (current cab); the first cab was an L-4 on a wooden baseThe designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
7,499 ft (2,286 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Payette National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Adams County, Idaho
Coordinates
45.10638, −116.50546
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-lick-creek-point-payette-national-forest

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 4.0 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. 1932 BuiltFirst L-4 cab on the site; the sources describe its base as log, log cribbing or enclosed timberSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1942 StaffedEarliest named lookout person: Glen Gwilliams on firelookout.com, spelled Glen Williams on idahofirelookouts.comSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  3. No record between 1942 and 1978
  4. 1978 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  5. 1978 Replaced by a new structureR-6 flat cab on a concrete base replaced the 1932 cab; the Register's Built field gives 1978Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  6. No record between 1978 and 2020
  7. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 29, 2020 as US 1436, ID 128Source: 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.

Lick Creek Point Lookout stands in the Payette National Forest, in Adams County, Idaho, about 15 miles northwest of New Meadows.1,2 The site was first developed in 1932 with an L-4 cab.2,3 The sources describe its first base as a log base, log cribbing, or an enclosed timber tower, which all point to wood.1,2,3

In 1978 that cab was replaced by an R-6 flat cab set on a concrete base, and the Register treats that cab as the current structure.1,2,4 The build dates need a word of explanation. The Register lists 1978 in its Built field, while its own description and firelookout.com both date the site's first cab to 1932, so the two years refer to different cabs.1,2

The earliest named lookout person in these sources is Glen Gwilliams, listed for 1942 on firelookout.com. Idaho Fire Lookouts spells the name Glen Williams, so the spelling is not settled.2,4 The Register says the lookout is usually manned in fire season, and firelookout.com says it is staffed in summer.1,2

The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists the tower as standing, and the Register added it on September 29, 2020, as US 1436 (Idaho 128).5,1

Idaho Fire Lookouts describes the site as hike-in and staffed, but it gives no word on whether visitors may climb the cab.4 Access is therefore unknown.4 Check with the Payette National Forest before going, and do not climb a staffed lookout without permission.

  1. Lick Creek Point Lookout (Payette National Forest), National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/lick-creek-point-lookout-payette-national-forest/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Lick Creek Point Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com (Forest Fire Lookout pages by Rex Kamstra), https://www.firelookout.com/id/lickcreek.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Lick Creek Point – FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (idaholookouts.weebly.com), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/lick-creek-point.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Lick Creek Point – Idaho Fire Lookouts, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/west-central/lick-creek-point/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Idaho Lookouts (Alphabetical List), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/id/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Lick Creek Point Lookout - 2013
Lick Creek Point Lookout - 2013 (2013)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lick Creek Point Lookout - 1932
Lick Creek Point Lookout - 1932 (1932)Photo: Dave Bula Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lick Creek Point in 1932
Lick Creek Point in 1932 (1932)Photo: the Dave Bula collection and Chuck Redman, via firelookout.com · source
Lick Creek Point L.O.
Lick Creek Point L.OPhoto: the Dave Bula collection and Chuck Redman, via firelookout.com · source
Lick Creek Point
Lick Creek PointPhoto: idahofirelookouts.com · 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 year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1978
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1932

    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, 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
  4. Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com) Gave us: staffing, 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) Gave us: 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, 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.