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Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho

Round Top Mountain Lookout Site

Also known as Roundtop (Powell), Roundtop

Clearwater NF lookout in Idaho County, reportedly built 1934 and abandoned by 1940; one source says destroyed 1972; no source says it stands today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. No source says the tower stands today. firelookout.com reports it destroyed in 1972; the register says concrete piers may still exist at the site.

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

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab on a 30-foot timber pole tower (FFLOS); 40-foot pole L-4 tower (firelookout.com); log cabin (Idaho Fire Lookouts)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,555 ft (1,998 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Clearwater National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Idaho County, Idaho
Coordinates
46.53382, −114.59160
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-round-top-mountain-2

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 3.5 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. 1934 Builtfirelookout.com dates a 40-foot pole L-4 tower to 1934; a 1934 newspaper item quoted by Forest Lookouts says materials were ordered for a Round Top lookout in the Powell districtSources: idaholookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  2. 1938 StaffedJoe E. Halm listed as known staff (Idaho Fire Lookouts)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  3. 1940 AbandonedReported abandoned by 1940 (register)Source: firetower.org
  4. 1950 EventStill standing in 1950 (register)Source: firetower.org
  5. No record between 1950 and 1972
  6. 1972 DestroyedReported destroyed in 1972 by firelookout.com; the register gives no such dateSource: firelookout.com
  7. No record between 1972 and 2022
  8. 2022 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 22, 2022; nominated by Brad EellsSource: firetower.org
  9. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Round Top lookout stood on Round Top Mountain in Idaho County, Idaho, and the Former Fire Lookout Sites register places it in the Clearwater National Forest.1 A 1934 newspaper item, quoted on the Forest Lookouts site, said materials for ten new lookout towers had been ordered for the Lolo National Forest, and it named a Round Top site in the Powell district as one location.2 firelookout.com dates the tower to 1934 and lists it as a 40-foot pole L-4 tower.3 The register gives a 30-foot timber pole instead, so the height is disputed.1

The Idaho Fire Lookouts site lists one known staff member for the tower, Joe E. Halm, in 1938.4 It describes the 1930s structure as a log cabin, which does not match the L-4 cab in the register.4,1

Its fate is unclear. The register says the lookout was reported abandoned by 1940 and was still standing in 1950.1 Idaho Fire Lookouts also marks it abandoned.4 firelookout.com says it was destroyed in 1972.3 The accounts differ on when the tower ended, and we could not settle the date.1,3

Today, the register says some remains of concrete piers may still exist at the site.1 We found no source that describes the site in more detail or says whether anything of the tower still stands. Idaho Fire Lookouts lists the spot as drive-up, but no source we read says whether the site is open to the public.4

  1. Round Top Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/id/round-top-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Round Top Mountain, Forest Lookouts (entry quoting The Missoulian, April 4, 1934), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/round-top-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Roundtop Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/roundtop294b.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Roundtop Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/selway-region/roundtop-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Round Top Lookout - Circa 1950
Round Top Lookout - Circa 1950 (1950)Photo: Bud Moore, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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: 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: 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, 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.