FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Custer County, Idaho

Little Soldier Lookout

Also known as Little Soldier Mountain

Custer County ground-mounted L-4 cab built 1934, evacuated in a 1988 fire, badly damaged in a 2010 windstorm, and now listed as gone.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Severely damaged in a 2010 windstorm and parts salvaged in 2011. A regional list marks it gone. No source 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. Hike-in only, in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness. The Register describes no road access.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
The Register describes a steep ten-mile trail from the Indian Creek Ranger Station, on foot or horseback. Idaho Fire Lookouts tags it Hike-In. The cab is gone.

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Ground-level cabGround-mounted L-4 cab, hip roof, 14 by 14 feet, with a catwalkThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
8,745 ft (2,666 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Custer County, Idaho
Coordinates
44.70912, −115.09128
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-little-soldier

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.

Downloads about 3.8 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. 1934 BuiltGround-mounted L-4 cab with a hip roof, 14 by 14 feetSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  2. No record between 1934 and 1957
  3. 1957 StaffedA fire spotter worked at the lookout in July 1957, per a newspaper item quoted by the Idaho lookouts siteSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1958 StaffedA June 1958 item describes a planned summer posting at the tower. We found no later report confirming it.Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1958 and 1984
  6. 1984 StaffedCole Nicole LeFavour listed as staff for 1984 to 1987Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  7. 1988 FireA fire jumped the Salmon River toward the mountain in August 1988 and the lookout was evacuatedSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1988 StaffedChrista Everett listed as staff for 1988 to 1989Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  9. No record between 1988 and 2004
  10. 2004 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on February 12, 2004. The register said it had been on emergency status for years and was in active service again.Source: nhlr.org
  11. 2010 EventSeverely damaged in a windstormSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  12. 2011 EventParts salvaged from the structureSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  13. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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 Soldier Lookout stood on Little Soldier Mountain in Custer County, Idaho.1 It was built in 1934 as a ground-mounted L-4 cab.2,3 The National Historic Lookout Register describes a hip-roofed groundhouse about 14 feet by 14 feet, with a catwalk.1,2,3,4

Our sources name a few people who worked there. In July 1957 a fire spotter at the lookout was flown out by helicopter after an accidental injury, according to a newspaper item quoted on a lookout history site.4 A June 1958 item described a summer worker who would travel three days by horse and pack mule to the tower. We found no later report that he arrived.4 Idaho Fire Lookouts lists Cole Nicole LeFavour for 1984 to 1987 and Christa Everett for 1988 to 1989.3

In August 1988 a fire jumped the Salmon River and moved toward the mountain. The lookout was evacuated.4 The Register listed the lookout on February 12, 2004. It noted that the cab spent several years on emergency status before returning to active use.1 A windstorm severely damaged the cab in 2010, and parts were salvaged the next year.2,3

A regional list marks the lookout as gone.5 We found no source that says what, if anything, is left at the site.

The Register describes the main trail as a steep ten-mile climb from the Indian Creek Ranger Station, on foot or horseback, with no road access.1 Idaho Fire Lookouts tags the site as a hike-in.3 The site sits within the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.2

  1. Little Soldier Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/little-soldier-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Little Soldier Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/littlesoldier.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Little Soldier Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/southern-idaho/little-soldier-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Little Soldier Mountain, Forest Lookouts (Idaho), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/little-soldier-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Idaho Lookouts, alphabetical list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/id/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Little Soldier Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · 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: Gone
    • NHLR: Standing
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered. firelookout.com lists it, but not on its map of standing lookouts.

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: 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: 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: what it is built of, design, 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.