FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Valley County, Idaho

Meadow Creek Lookout

A 1933 L-4 ground cab in the Boise National Forest, regularly staffed until 1972 and now mothballed and kept for emergency use.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Described as available for emergencies and as a Drive Up Emergency site; the sources describe no public visiting arrangement

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
A 2018 visit report describes access by ATV, UTV or high-clearance vehicle; no route details recorded here
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 standard cabin, 14 by 14 ft ground cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
8,844 ft (2,696 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Valley County, Idaho
Coordinates
44.86832, −115.38897
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-meadow-creek-3

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. 1933 BuiltL-4 standard cabin, described as a 14 by 14 ft ground cabSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1945 StaffedMrs. Lois Parish named as watch-keeper in an Idaho Statesman item dated January 28, 1945Sources: idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1945 and 1972
  4. 1972 Last staffedLast fire season the lookout was regularly staffedSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1972 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 21, 2012 as US 944, ID 98Source: nhlr.org
  7. 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.

Meadow Creek Lookout stands in the Boise National Forest in Valley County, Idaho, about 8 miles southeast of Yellow Pine, at 8,844 feet.1,2,3

The cab was built in 1933 as an L-4 standard cabin.4 The Register describes it as a 14-by-14-foot ground cab.1

The one named watch-keeper in these sources is Mrs. Lois Parish.3,4 An Idaho Statesman item dated January 28, 1945, quoted by Forest Lookouts, says that reaching her station meant a two-mile trek, and that she was alone at the cabin through the summer and fall.3,4 Regular staffing ended after the 1972 fire season, according to Forest Lookouts.4

The Register added the tower on July 21, 2012, as US 944 (Idaho 98).1 A visit report dated August 28, 2018, on that page answers no to whether the lookout is staffed. It says the tower needed paint and hardware work, and that the glass could not be checked because the shutters were locked.1 The same report also says the surrounding ground has seen fire within the last 15 years.1 A climbing guide describes it as mothballed.5 The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists it as standing.6

Idaho Fire Lookouts files the site under Drive Up Emergency, and the Register says the cab is available for emergencies.3,1 A 2018 visit note describes access by ATV, UTV or high-clearance vehicle.1 Those phrases point to emergency use rather than public visits, so access is restricted.1,3 Do not climb the tower, and check with the Boise National Forest before heading out to the site.

  1. Meadow Creek Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/meadow-creek-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Meadow Creek Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com (Forest Fire Lookout pages by Rex Kamstra), https://www.firelookout.com/id/meadowcreek.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Meadow Creek Lookout – Idaho Fire Lookouts, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/west-central/meadow-creek-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Meadow Creek – FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (idaholookouts.weebly.com), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/meadow-creek1.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Meadow Creek Lookout – IDAHO: A Climbing Guide, Idaho: A Climbing Guide, https://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/bookupdates/meadow-creek-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Idaho Lookouts (Alphabetical List), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/id/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Meadow Creek Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
July 18, 2012
July 18, 2012 (2012)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
July 18, 2012
July 18, 2012 (2012)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Interior, July 18, 2012
Interior, July 18, 2012 (2012)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1963
1963 (1963)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Meadow Creek Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Meadow Creek in 1963
Meadow Creek in 1963 (1963)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Meadow Creek in 2013
Meadow Creek in 2013 (2013)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Meadow Creek in 2013
Meadow Creek in 2013 (2013)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Meadow Creek Lookout
Meadow Creek 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.

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. 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.