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Fire lookout · Boundary County, Idaho

Little Snowy Top Lookout

L-4 groundhouse on Little Snowy Top in Idaho's Priest Lake country; restored by volunteers in the 1980s and burned to the ground on September 3, 2016.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Burned to the ground on September 3, 2016. No source we read describes what, if anything, remains.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Reached by a nine-mile trail on foot or horse. No closure is reported in our sources, and none describes the site today.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Nine miles on foot or by horse; the cabin burned to the ground in 2016, so there is no structure to climb.

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 groundhouse, 14 by 14 feetThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1930
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,590 ft (2,009 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Boundary County, Idaho
Coordinates
48.97292, −117.00173
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-little-snowy-top

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and a typical height for a lookout like it.

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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. 1930 BuiltRegister gives circa 1930 to 1933; Spokesman-Review says built between 1930 and 1933. The record's 1930 is the start of that range.Sources: nhlr.org, nhlr.org
  2. 1933 StaffedIdaho Fire Lookouts lists Howard Thomason as known staff for 1933. Fan-site list, not checked against a primary source.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  3. No record between 1933 and 1951
  4. 1951 StaffedA grizzly bear broke in and chased the lookout staffer into the rafters, per the Spokesman-Review.Source: nhlr.org
  5. 1952 StaffedIdaho Fire Lookouts lists Rupert Cutler as known staff for 1952. Fan-site list, not checked against a primary source.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  6. No record between 1952 and 1983
  7. 1983 EventWeebly quotes an October 1983 item about a 'Little Snowy Lookout Tower' donated to Priest River in 1982; the item does not clearly say whether it is this cabin.Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1987 RestoredRegister dates volunteer work to 1987 as a two-year effort; a 1989 item quoted on the Weebly page says the project began in 1987. The Spokesman-Review says restoration started in 1988.Sources: nhlr.org, idaholookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org
  9. 1995 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register.Source: nhlr.org
  10. 2006 FireDuring the Hughes fires the lookout was covered with retardant and a fire-resistant wrap.Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  11. 2016 BurnedBurned to the ground on September 3, 2016, in the afternoon. Spokesman-Review says it likely burned due to carelessness with the wood stove; Weebly gives the same cause more broadly.Sources: idaholookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org
  12. 2016 DestroyedThe register says the tower was destroyed in a September 3, 2016 fire.Source: nhlr.org
  13. 2016 Removed'Removed' field on NHLR detail page: "2016".Source: NHLR register entry
  14. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register.Source: firetower.org
  15. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Little Snowy Top lookout stood on Little Snowy Top Mountain, on the Shedroof Divide in Boundary County, Idaho, about two miles south of the Canadian border.1 The National Historic Lookout Register gives its construction as circa 1930 to 1933,2 and the Spokesman-Review says it was built between 1930 and 1933.1 It was a 14-by-14-foot L-4 groundhouse,1,2 which the register calls the only remaining 1930s groundhouse of its type in the Priest Lake area.2

The register says its lookout work wound down in the 1960s, but the site escaped demolition because it was so remote.2 A fan site adds that questions of ownership also played a part, and that the Sullivan Lake Ranger District had staffed it.3

Few staff are named in the sources we read. The Spokesman-Review mentions a grizzly bear that broke in and chased the lookout staffer into the rafters in 1951.1 The Idaho Fire Lookouts site lists Howard Thomason for 1933 and Rupert Cutler for 1952, with little detail.4

In 1987, volunteers from the Spokane Mountaineers and the Priest River Back Country Horsemen assisted the Priest Lake Ranger District in a two-year restoration.2 The Spokesman-Review says the restoration began in 1988,1 while a 1989 item quoted on the Weebly page says the project began in 1987.5 The register listed the lookout on June 17, 1995.2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register added it as a site in 2020.6

In 2006, while the Hughes fires were in its path, crews covered the lookout with retardant and a fire-resistant wrap.5 The Spokesman-Review says it had survived several forest fires before the one that destroyed it.1

On September 3, 2016, the lookout burned to the ground in the afternoon.5 The Spokesman-Review gives carelessness with the small wood stove as the probable cause.1 The Weebly timeline gives the same cause more broadly, as carelessness by people using the building for shelter.5

A 1983 item quoted on the Weebly page refers to a "Little Snowy Lookout Tower" that the Forest Service had donated to Priest River in 1982, and says attempts to move it had apparently failed.5 It does not say clearly whether that structure is this cabin, and we found nothing that confirms it.5

The register has a photo captioned "Burned remains of the lookout," but none of the sources we read describes what, if anything, still stands at the site.2 Reaching it meant a nine-mile trail, covered on foot or on horseback.1 With the cabin burned to the ground, there is no structure left to climb.1 We found no current notice of closures.

  1. Destroyed Little Snowy Top lookout provided shelter, memories to many, The Spokesman-Review, http://nhlr.org/media/4114/spokesman-review-article.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Little Snowy Top Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/little-snowy-top-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Little Snowy Top Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/littlesnowytop.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Little Snowy Top, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/northern-idaho/little-snowy-top/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Little Snowy Top, Forest Lookouts (Idaho), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/little-snowy-top.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Little Snowy Top Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/id/little-snowy-top-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Lookout in 2015
Lookout in 2015 (2015)Photo: Brett Chambers, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Little Snowy Top Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Burned remains of the lookout
Burned remains of the lookoutPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout in 2015
Lookout in 2015 (2015)Photo: Brett Chambers, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Burned remains of the lookout
Burned remains of the lookoutPhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Little Snowy Top
Little Snowy TopPhoto: 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 whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • NHLR: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Gone
    • Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com): Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered. firelookout.com lists it, but not on its map of standing lookouts. idahofirelookouts.com's status is read from a short summary.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: register numbers, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. 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
  4. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: 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
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, staffing, 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.