FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Shoshone County, Idaho

Little Guard Lookout

Also known as Little Guard Peak

Idaho's first NHLR-listed lookout, its current L-4 cabin is the third building on the site and is now a popular Forest Service rental.

Visit & stay

You can rent this lookout for overnight stays through recreation.gov.

Sleeps
Up to 4 people

Rules

  • No water or electricity on site

Overview Little Guard Lookout, located about 9 miles north of Shoshone Camp, was one of the last remaining fire lookouts used in the Coeur d'Alene River area and has only just recently become inactive. The structure standing today on Little Guard Peak is the third in a series of lookout buildings that originated back to 1919. In October 1990, Little Guard Lookout was accepted for listing in the National Historic Lookout Register and the first for Idaho. Recreation Hiking is a great way to explore and take in the scenery of the grand mountains. The lookout provides access to the Shoshone Ridge Trail #81, a very nice day hike for visitors to the lookout. The trail provides many scenic viewpoints, but there is no source of water along the way, so hikers must bring plenty of their own. Facilities The fully furnished two-story fire lookout has dimensions of 14 x 14 feet, an external cat walk, and a gabled roof. It sleeps four guests, with one single bed and three fold-up cots available. Quarters are tight and at least two cots will need to be set up downstairs in the kitchen area. The kitchen is on the ground floor and is equipped with a small propane refrigerator, propane cook stove, table, chairs and basic cooking utensils. Propane for the stove and refrigerator is also provided. The outdoor pit toilet is within 200 feet of the lookout. It comes with biodegradable toilet paper. Other amenities include a propane heater upstairs and propane lanterns, but renters will need to bring their own propane for these. No water or electricity is available. Visitors should bring plenty of water. A mountain spring is within a half-mile by footpath, and can be boiled and treated for consumption. In addition to water, guests should bring food, propane for lanterns and heater, matches or lighters, warm clothing, garbage bags, insect repellent, towels and washcloths, toiletries, dish soap and a first aid kit. Air mattresses or sleeping pads are also recommended. Natural Features At an elevation of 6,031 feet, the lookout boasts spectacular views overlooking the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River and the Bitterroot Mountains, with views of nearby Downey Peak to the northwest. Wildlife in the area includes mule deer, moose, osprey and calliope hummingbirds. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (208) 664-2318.

Noted: Maintenance Closure 2026

This comes from the Forest Fire Lookout Association’s rentals list. Check with the manager or the booking page before you plan a stay.

Book on recreation.gov

Rental details from recreation.gov, checked 12 Oct 2026. The closure note comes from the Forest Fire Lookout Association’s rentals list. Rules, fees and seasons change, so confirm on the booking page before you go. Data source: ridb.recreation.gov

Access

Open to the public. Available via Forest Service recreation rental program (recreation.gov).

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Reached via Shoshone Ridge Trail #81; rental cabin, not open for casual climbing.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingL-4The designs: L-4, Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1919
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,961 ft (1,817 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Shoshone County, Idaho
Coordinates
47.79746, −116.00587 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 12 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-little-guard

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. 1919 BuiltOriginal frame cabin built on Guard Peak.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  2. 1929 Replaced by a new structureCupola cabin and crow's-nest built on Downey Peak, 1 mile northwest.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  3. No record between 1929 and 1956
  4. 1956 BuiltCurrent L-4 cabin on concrete base built on south summit; NHLR gives 1956, idahofirelookouts/firelookout.com give 1957.Source: nhlr.org
  5. No record between 1956 and 1977
  6. 1977 EventShifted to emergency-staffed status.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  7. 1990 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterFirst Idaho lookout listed on the National Historic Lookout Register, October 30, 1990.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Little Guard Lookout sits on a summit in the Coeur d'Alene National Forest, about nine miles north of Shoshone Camp in Idaho's panhandle.1,2 The structure standing there today is actually the third fire-watch building on the site. The first was a simple frame cabin built on Guard Peak in 1919.2 A decade later, in 1929, the Forest Service replaced it with a cupola-style cabin and crow's-nest about a mile northwest, on Downey Peak.2,3 The current two-story cabin, a 14-by-14-foot live-in L-4 structure on a 10-foot concrete block base, was built on the south summit; the Forest Service's own historic register gives 1956 for that construction, while other lookout researchers date it to 1957, so the exact year is uncertain.1,3,2

The tower was staffed for decades by Forest Service lookouts, and researchers have pieced together a long list of names, starting with Frank "Mac" McPherson in 1918-1919 and running through staff such as Rex Brown, several married couples who worked the post together, and Jennifer Domijan in 1975.2 By 1977 the lookout had been shifted to emergency-staffed status, used only as needed rather than continuously, and it continued to be maintained and occasionally staffed by the Wallace Ranger District into the 1990s.1,3

Little Guard holds a particular distinction in Idaho lookout history: in October 1990 it became the first lookout in the state listed on the National Historic Lookout Register.3,2

Today the lookout is no longer staffed for fire detection but survives intact and is one of the more sought-after rentals in the Forest Service's northern Idaho cabin program.2 It sleeps up to four people with a mix of a single bed and fold-up cots, has a propane stove, refrigerator and heater, but no running water or electricity, and sits near the Shoshone Ridge Trail at an elevation of about 6,031 feet.4 Access is public via recreation.gov booking.

  1. Little Guard Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/little-guard-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Little Guard Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/cda-region/little-guard-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Little Guard Peak Lookout, Fire Lookout, https://www.firelookout.com/id/littleguard.html (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  4. Little Guard Lookout, Recreation.gov, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234435 (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Photo of Little Guard Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Carter Logan at Little Guard circa 1920 (photo from Gary Logan)
Carter Logan at Little Guard circa 1920 (photo from Gary Logan) (1920)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Guard Peak in 1919
Guard Peak in 1919 (1919)Photo: Gary Weber and Tyler McGraw, via firelookout.com · source
Downey Peak in 1950
Downey Peak in 1950 (1950)Photo: Gary Weber and Tyler McGraw, via firelookout.com · source
Little Guard in 1971
Little Guard in 1971 (1971)Photo: Gary Weber and Tyler McGraw, via firelookout.com · source
Little Guard in 2018
Little Guard in 2018 (2018)Photo: Gary Weber and Tyler McGraw, via firelookout.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 location by 650 m.

    • NHLR: 47.79746, −116.00587
    • recreation.gov: 47.80278, −116.00944

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, 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. Recreation Information Database (recreation.gov) Gave us: ownership, access, rental details, links Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 12 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association: lookout rentals Gave us: rental details, links Forest Fire Lookout Association rentals list (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only (state, name, booking link, manager, closure note), no prose copied. The FFLA says it is not involved in managing any rental program. · retrieved 12 Oct 2026
  5. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: what it is built of, design, 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
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. 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.