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Fire lookout · Valley County, Idaho

Mahoney Creek Point Lookout

Also known as Mahoney Creek

A 1937 L-4 ground cab in Valley County, Idaho, abandoned around 2000 and registered in 2011; no staffing history is documented.

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. Listed as an abandoned hike-in site; no source says whether the public may visit or climb it

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
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing sources disagree
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 ground cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1937
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,862 ft (2,396 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Valley County, Idaho
Coordinates
44.76014, −114.95913
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-mahoney-creek-point

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 4.1 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. 1937 BuiltL-4 ground cab; firelookout.com says it is the only lookout structure ever on the siteSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1937 and 2000
  3. 2000 AbandonedIdaho Fire Lookouts dates abandonment to 2000; firelookout.com says abandoned for several yearsSources: idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com, nhlr.org
  4. 2011 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 8, 2011 as US 935, ID 94Source: nhlr.org
  5. 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.

Mahoney Creek Point Lookout is a ground-level L-4 cab in Valley County, Idaho, about 21 miles southeast of Stibnite.1,2 The Register places it in the Boise and Challis National Forests.1,2 The cab was built in 1937, and firelookout.com says it is the only lookout structure the site has ever had.1,2

No staffing history is documented; Idaho Fire Lookouts says its records do not yet include one.3

Its condition is less clear. Idaho Fire Lookouts dates its abandonment to 2000.3 Firelookout.com says the site has sat unused for several years.2 When the Register added the tower on October 8, 2011, as US 935 (Idaho 94), it called the tower abandoned and waiting for someone to take it on.1 The Forest Fire Lookout Association still lists it as standing.4

Idaho Fire Lookouts files it as an abandoned, hike-in site.3 Access is unknown, since none of these sources addresses public visits or climbing.1,2,3 Check with the Boise or Challis National Forest office before going, and do not climb an abandoned structure.

  1. Mahoney Creek Point Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/mahoney-creek-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Mahoney Creek Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com (Forest Fire Lookout pages by Rex Kamstra), https://www.firelookout.com/id/mahoney.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Mahoney Creek Point Lookout – Idaho Fire Lookouts, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/west-central/mahoney-creek-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Idaho Lookouts (Alphabetical List), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/id/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mahoney Creek Point Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mahoney Creek Point Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout interior showing 1937 map
Lookout interior showing 1937 map (1937)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mahoney Creek L.O.
Mahoney Creek L.OPhoto: Jim Reid and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Mahoney Creek in 2008
Mahoney Creek in 2008 (2008)Photo: Jim Reid and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Mahoney Creek Point Lookout
Mahoney Creek Point LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.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 whether it still stands.

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

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered. idahofirelookouts.com's status is read from a short summary.

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, 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: 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. 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.