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Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho

Pilot Knob Lookout

Nez Perce NF lookout first staffed in 1914; the present 10-ft tower with an L-4 cab dates to 1939 and is staffed in summer.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Drive-up and staffed in summer per Idaho Fire Lookouts. No closure reported.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower10-ft tower with a classic 1932-model hip-roof L-4 cab; one of the few lookouts with a Bosworth fire finderThe design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
7,135 ft (2,175 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Nez Perce National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Idaho County, Idaho
Coordinates
45.90556, −115.70833
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-pilot-knob-2

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1914 First staffedForest guard stationed at the site as lookout; camp established the same yearSources: idaholookouts.weebly.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  2. 1915 EventNewspaper says a cabin will be built; other sources date the first 10x10 cab to 1922Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1916 EventTwo staff struck by lightning during a storm; both survived (not fatal)Sources: idaholookouts.weebly.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  4. 1922 BuiltFirst structure, a 10x10 frame cabSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1922 and 1939
  6. 1939 BuiltPresent 10-ft tower with L-4 cabSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  7. 1947 StaffedStaff entry for Mr. & Mrs. Louis Elwood, per The Colville Examiner as cited on Idaho Fire LookoutsSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  8. No record between 1947 and 2009
  9. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, April 24, 2009Source: nhlr.org
  10. 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.

Pilot Knob Lookout stands in the Nez Perce National Forest in Idaho County, at 7,135 feet, about 14 miles northwest of Elk City.1,2

The site was first staffed in 1914, when a forest guard was stationed there as a lookout, on duty day and night for fires.3,4 Early staff worked from a tent with a telephone.3 In August 1916 lightning struck two of them, and both survived.3,4

A July 1915 newspaper said a cabin would be built there.3 Other lookout histories date the first 10-by-10-foot cab to 1922.1,2 The present 10-foot tower with an L-4 cab was built in 1939.2,4 The cab is a classic 1932-model, hip-roofed design.1 Few lookouts carry a Bosworth fire finder instead of an Osborne, and this one is among them.2

Idaho Fire Lookouts lists the site as drive-up and staffed, and the NHLR says it is regularly staffed each year.4,1

The staff list on Idaho Fire Lookouts runs from 1914 into 2025. For one long-serving attendant, the list gives 1976 as the start year, while a reader's comment on the same page gives 1985.4

The NHLR registered the lookout on April 24, 2009, and says it is still in service on the Nez Perce National Forest.1

  1. Pilot Knob Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/pilot-knob-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Pilot Knob Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/pilotknob.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Pilot Knob - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (idaholookouts.weebly.com), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/pilot-knob.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Pilot Knob, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/selway-region/pilot-knob/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

2009 photo
2009 photo (2009)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Bosworth Fire Finder in 2009
Bosworth Fire Finder in 2009 (2009)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2009 photo
2009 photo (2009)Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Pilot Knob in 1922
Pilot Knob in 1922 (1922)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, via firelookout.com · source
Pilot Knob in 1989
Pilot Knob in 1989 (1989)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, via firelookout.com · source

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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 the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1939
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1914

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

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: design, height, staffing, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · 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, height, 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.