Fire lookout · Shoshone County, Idaho
Middle Sister Peak Lookout
Also known as Middle Sister
A 1954 L-4 tower on Middle Sister Peak in northern Idaho replaced a 1951 tower that burned in 1953; volunteers have staffed and restored it since the 1990s.
- Standing
- Open to the public
- Verified
Visit & stay
Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.
Access
Open to the public. Listed as drive-up and staffed by Idaho Fire Lookouts. No closure or permit requirement is mentioned in the sources.
- Can you climb it?
- Unknown
- Road to the top?
- Yes, you can drive up
- Staffing
- Staffed during fire season
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a tower30-ft tower with L-4 cab (built 1954)The designs: L-4, Cupola house
- Built of
- Wood
- Built
- 1923
- Height
- 35 ft (10.7 m)
- Elevation
- 6,818 ft (2,078 m)
- Agency
- U.S. Forest Service (St. Joe Ranger District, cooperator); the forest name differs between sources
- Land
- Federal land
- Location
- Shoshone County, Idaho
- Coordinates
- 47.16782, −115.65342
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-id-middle-sister-peak
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
- 1923 BuiltFirst structure on the peak, a log cupola cabinSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
- No record between 1923 and 1951
- 1951 Replaced by a new structureReplaced by a 35-ft tower with an L-4 cabSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, spokanehistorical.org
- 1953 BurnedThe 1951 tower accidentally burnedSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
- 1954 BuiltPresent 30-ft L-4 tower builtSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
- No record between 1954 and 1989
- 1989 Last staffedRemained active until 1989, per the registerSource: nhlr.org
- 1992 RestoredRenovated in 1992; volunteers have staffed and restored it since thenSources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
- 1995 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 2, 1995 as US 151, ID 10Source: nhlr.org
- 2008 RestoredVacant, then renovated in 2008 and 2009 by a prevention technician and St. Joe fire crew membersSource: idahofirelookouts.com
- 2009 RestoredUpgrades were under way, with the lookout expected to be ready for 2010 staffing.Source: firelookout.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
Middle Sister Peak Lookout stands on Middle Sister Peak in Shoshone County, Idaho, about 10 miles southeast of Avery.1,2 The sources disagree on the peak's details. The register gives an elevation of 6,818 feet and places the peak in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest.1 Firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts give 6,898 feet and name the St. Joe National Forest.2,3
The first structure on the peak was a log cupola cabin, built around 1923.1,2,3 A 35-foot tower with an L-4 cab replaced it in 1951, but that tower accidentally burned in 1953.1,2,3,4 The current 30-foot L-4 tower went up in 1954 and stayed in service until 1989.1,2
The lookout was restored in the 1990s.1,3 According to the register, volunteers have kept the lookout staffed and in repair since 1992.1 Idaho Fire Lookouts records a 1992 renovation and a second one in 2008 and 2009, after the tower had been vacant. That work was done by a prevention technician and St. Joe fire crew members.3
How often it is staffed is also described differently. Idaho Fire Lookouts reports staffing every summer.3 Firelookout.com reports staffing in most summers.2 A Spokane Historical photo caption describes volunteer staffing through the summer and fire seasons, and puts it forward as North Idaho's only active fire lookout.4
Today the site is listed as drive-up, according to Idaho Fire Lookouts.3 It was registered on the National Historic Lookout Register on October 2, 1995, as US 151, ID 10.1
- Middle Sister Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/middle-sister-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Middle Sister Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/middlesister.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Middle Sister Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com), https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/st-joe-clearwater-region/middle-sister-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- The Middle Sisters Peak lookout, Spokane Historical, https://spokanehistorical.org/files/show/4449 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) 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
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page (opens another site) Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, 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
- Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com) (opens another site) Gave us: staffing, 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports (opens another site) Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) (opens another site) 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
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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
- NHLR register entry US 151 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- NHLR register entry (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- The Middle Sisters Peak lookout (Spokane Historical) (opens another site)
- FFLA Idaho lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports: work on Middle Sister Peak Lookout (opens another site)
- Middle Sister on firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra) (opens another site)
- Middle Sister Lookout on idahofirelookouts.com (opens another site)
- Middle Sister Peak on Forest Lookouts, western US (Ron Kemnow) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.