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Fire lookout · Kootenai County, Idaho

Mount Coeur d’Alene Lookout

Kootenai County summit lookout built from a 1913 crow's nest through 1963-64 towers; removed by 1979, with footings reported on the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The final tower was removed by 1979. WillhiteWeb reports footings several feet off the parking area; the climbing guide reports no fire lookout on the summit.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Road and trail both reach the summit; WillhiteWeb says the last third of a mile needs 4WD and high clearance in summer, and most people park and walk the rest.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerFinal structure was a 67-foot treated timber tower with an R-6 cab, built 1963 or 1964 after a 41-foot L-4 tower (1948)The designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1913
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Coeur d'Alene National Forest
Land
Unknown
Location
Kootenai County, Idaho
Coordinates
47.58133, −116.68937
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-mount-coeur-dalene

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 3.9 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. 1913 BuiltCrow's nest, the first structure named for the summitSource: firelookout.com
  2. 1915 BuiltLog cabin with a 20-foot platform towerSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  3. 1924 BuiltLog cabin with a roof platformSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  4. 1926 Built30-foot log tower with a 6-by-6 cabSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  5. 1928 First staffedMrs. Beth Vedder and Mr. Vernon Vedder listed; earliest named staff in these sourcesSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  6. No record between 1928 and 1944
  7. 1944 StaffedSisters Mamie and Thelma Jardine as lookouts in 1944 and 1945Sources: idahofirelookouts.com, willhiteweb.com
  8. 1948 Built41-foot treated timber tower with a 1933-style L-4 cabSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, willhiteweb.com
  9. 1949 EventLightning struck the tower while the Stoesz couple were on lower ground; scorched the inside of the building and burned out the radio; no fire resultedSource: willhiteweb.com
  10. 1963 Built67-foot treated timber tower with an R-6 cab; firelookout.com dates it to 1964Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, willhiteweb.com
  11. 1972 Last staffedKim Degenhartd, the last name in these staff listsSource: firelookout.com
  12. 1979 RemovedFinal tower removed; described as gone by 1979Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, willhiteweb.com
  13. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Mount Coeur d'Alene is a 4,439-foot summit in the Coeur d'Alene National Forest, in Kootenai County.1,2 Sources put it eight to nine miles southeast of the city of Coeur d'Alene. One gives eight miles and the other gives nine.1,3 The summit was first called Sticker Mountain.2

A crow's nest went up on the summit in 1913. Two years later a log cabin with a 20-foot platform tower stood there.1 A log cabin with a roof platform followed in 1924, and a 30-foot log tower with a 6-by-6 cab in 1926.1,2 In 1948 a 41-foot timber tower with a 1933-style L-4 cab went up.1,2 The last tower was a 67-foot timber tower with an R-6 cab. Firelookout.com dates it to 1964, while Idaho Fire Lookouts and WillhiteWeb give 1963.1,2,4

The earliest lookouts named in these sources are Mrs. Beth Vedder and Mr. Vernon Vedder, for 1928.2 In 1944 and 1945 the lookouts were sisters Mamie and Thelma Jardine.2,4 In 1949 lightning struck the tower while the lookouts, Mr. and Mrs. Lowell Stoesz, were on lower ground. The strike scorched the inside of the building and burned out the radio, but no fire followed.4 The last name in the lists is Kim Degenhartd, for 1972.1

The final tower came down in 1979.1,2,4 Idaho Fire Lookouts files the site as "Hike-In Destroyed/Removed."2

Today the climbing guide says the summit has no lookout anymore, and it also reports no cairn, no views and no USGS benchmark.3 WillhiteWeb reports that footings can still be found several feet off the parking area, on the highest ground.4 The guide also mentions a run-down cabin roughly 100 yards to the south, farther along the hiking trail, but it does not tie that cabin to the lookout.3

Reaching the top is possible by road and trail.3 A paved road climbs high on the mountain, and in summer the final third of a mile needs 4WD and high clearance.3,4 Most visitors park and walk the rest of the way.4 Whether the site is open to the public is not stated in these sources.

  1. Mt. Coeur d'Alene Fire Lookout Tower, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://www.firelookout.com/id/cda.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Coeur d'Alene, Mount Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/cda-region/mount-coeur-dalene-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Mount Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Climbing Guide (revised by Livingston Douglas), https://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/bookupdates/mount-coeur-dalene/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Mount Coeur d'Alene Fire Lookout, WillhiteWeb.com (Idaho Lookouts), https://willhiteweb.com/idaho_lookouts/mount_coeur_d_alene/tower_013.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Coeur d’Alene, Mount Lookout
Coeur d’Alene, Mount LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.com · source

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Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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.