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Fire lookout · Boundary County, Idaho

Shorty Peak Lookout

A 1964 R-6 flattop replacing a 1927 cupola cabin in the Selkirks, with named lookouts back to 1932, now rented overnight through recreation.gov.

Visit & stay

You can rent this lookout for overnight stays through recreation.gov.

Overview Shorty Peak Lookout, 45 miles northwest of Bonners Ferry, sits atop Shorty Peak with views of the Selkirk and Purcell mountain ranges of Northern Idaho, Montana, and British Columbia. The rustic dwelling was once used to patrol forest fires, and is now a unique way for overnight guests to escape the city and become enthralled with 360 degree views of area's magnificence. Access requires a moderate to steep 2.5 mile hike with a 1,300 foot elevation gain. The lookout was refurbished in 2005 and is in excellent condition. Recreation The 2.5 mile hike up to Shorty Peak is part of the fun of staying at the cabin. The trail is also open to horseback riding. While here, landscape photography and wildlife viewing are popular pastimes. Birding is particularly popular and guests may have the chance to look down on some birds of prey. Look for red-tailed hawks, golden eagles, and goshawks soaring over the valleys. Clear nights offer prime stargazing opportunities. Facilities The 15' X 15' cabin sits atop a 5 foot foundation and can accommodate two overnight guests. The look of the interior is modern with hardwood floors. Two twin beds with pads, two chairs, two tables, a historic fire finder, and a district map are included inside the cabin. A pit toilet is within 100 yards of the lookout. No drinking water or electricity is available. Guests are asked to bring plenty of water, food, bedding, a first aid kit and all other basic camp gear. Horses are allowed, but no corrals or hitching racks are available. Hobbles are recommended for horses. Natural Features Shorty Peak lookout is located in the Lower Kootenai River Area (Bonners Ferry District) of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. The land is bordered by the Purcell and Cabinet Ranges and the Montana Line on the east, the rugged Selkirk Range on the west, and the Canadian border to the north. The 360-degree unobstructed vista from Shorty Peak Lookout is exceptional, with views of Kootenai Valley, U.S. and Canadian Selkirks, Smith Creek and Cow Creek drainage areas, Red Top Mountain, and the higher Lone Tree Peak a mile to the west. Elk, deer and black bears are among the wildlife in the area. This is bear country, both grizzly and black. The Forest Service recommends that you be able to distinguish between them. Please be aware of and practice bear safety while camping in this area. Nearby Attractions The nearest location for a convenience store is the Canadian border. A more cost effective location for groceries and gear is in Bonners Ferry, about 50 miles from the lookout.

Book on recreation.gov

Rental details from recreation.gov, checked 12 Oct 2026. Rules, fees and seasons change, so confirm on the booking page before you go. Data source: ridb.recreation.gov

Access

Open to the public. Public land; reachable by a 2.5-mile trail. Rented overnight through recreation.gov; book months ahead for summer.

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
2.5-mile trail, about 1,300 ft of elevation gain, open to hikers and horseback riders
Staffing
Unknown (as of 1980)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingR-6 flattop with catwalk on an 8-foot concrete baseThe designs: R-6, Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
8 ft (2.4 m)
Elevation
6,295 ft (1,919 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Idaho Panhandle National Forests (Bonners Ferry Ranger District)
Land
Federal land
Location
Boundary County, Idaho
Coordinates
48.94032, −116.68790
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 12 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-shorty-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 4.2 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. 1927 BuiltFirst lookout on Shorty Peak: a cupola cabinSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1927 and 1963
  3. 1963 RebuiltConstruction began on the present R-6 flattop cabSource: firelookout.com
  4. 1964 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  5. 1964 RebuiltPresent 14x14 ft R-6 flattop with catwalk on an 8-ft concrete base completed, replacing the 1927 cupolaSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1964 and 2004
  7. 2004 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, March 22, 2004Source: nhlr.org
  8. 2005 Condition assessmentAssessment and check of the lightning-protection grounding system was completed at this rental lookout.Source: firelookout.org
  9. 2005 RestoredCabin refurbishedSource: recreation.gov
  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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Shorty Peak Lookout

Shorty Peak sits in the Selkirk Mountains of the old Kaniksu National Forest, now part of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, about ten miles west-southwest of Porthill near the Canadian border.1 The first lookout here was a simple cupola cabin, built in 1927.2,1 It did its job for decades before the Forest Service replaced it: construction on the present building began in 1963 and finished in 1964, a 14-by-14-foot R-6 flat-roofed cab with a catwalk, set on an eight-foot concrete base.2,1

Firelookout.com, Rex Kamstra's long-running register of lookout personnel, names a handful of the people who staffed Shorty Peak over the years: Bill Hamilton in 1932–33, Burt Callahan in 1935, Larry Knight in 1936, Fred Brackebusch when the new tower went up in 1964, Ron Glover in 1965, Hollis Butler in 1967, Lawrence Fields and Ravio Kynnap splitting the 1969 season, Paula Stueve in 1972, Scot Anderson in 1978, and Shane Peterson in 1980.1 Like other lookouts in the area, the job meant memorizing the surrounding ridgelines well enough to place a wisp of smoke on a map, and reading it off an Osborne fire finder mounted in the center of the cab.3 Water was the hard part: there was none at the summit except snow, and the nearest spring was at least half a mile off and had to be hauled up by hand.3

By the 1960s the Forest Service was already turning to aircraft and other technology for fire detection, and many Panhandle lookouts like this one gradually lost their staff.4 Shorty Peak's own staffing history after 1980 is not recorded in the sources checked here, and it is not known when it stopped being staffed year-round.

What survived is the building itself. The cab was refurbished in 2005 and is kept in good condition.5 It is reached by a 2.5-mile trail with about 1,300 feet of climbing, open to hikers and horseback riders, and the Forest Service now rents it out through recreation.gov as an overnight cabin that sleeps two.5 Inside are two twin beds, two chairs, two tables, hardwood floors, and the lookout's own historic fire finder and district map, kept for atmosphere rather than use.5 There is no running water or power, and a pit toilet sits within about a hundred yards.5 Visitors who have stayed describe wide views of the Selkirk and Purcell ranges and the Kootenai Valley reaching into British Columbia, clear-night stargazing, and — set against the convenience of recreation.gov — the real logistics of carrying up water and gear for the stay.3

Shorty Peak is public land, open to anyone who can book the rental or simply hike to see it; reservations fill quickly in summer and are best made months ahead.5,3

  1. Shorty Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra), https://www.firelookout.com/id/shortypeak.html (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Shorty Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/shorty-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Shorty Peak lookout offers spectacular views, Naturally North Idaho, https://www.naturallynorthidaho.com/2015/07/shorty-peak-lookout-offers-spectacular-views.htm (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  4. Fire Lookouts of Boundary County, Idaho, Naturally North Idaho, https://www.naturallynorthidaho.com/2011/03/fire-lookouts-of-boundary-county-idaho.htm (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  5. Shorty Peak Lookout, Recreation.gov campground listing #234386, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234386 (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  6. Shorty Peak, IDAHO: A Climbing Guide, https://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/bookupdates/shorty-peak-6515/ (accessed 2026-10-04).

Photos

Photo of Shorty Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Shorty Peak L.O.
Shorty Peak L.OPhoto: Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Shorty Peak Lookout
Shorty Peak 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.

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: 1964
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1927

    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, 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. Recreation Information Database (recreation.gov) Gave us: ownership, access, rental details, links Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 12 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association: lookout rentals Gave us: rental details, links Forest Fire Lookout Association rentals list (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only (state, name, booking link, manager, closure note), no prose copied. The FFLA says it is not involved in managing any rental program. · retrieved 12 Oct 2026
  5. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, 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
  6. 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
  7. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports 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
  8. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  9. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, staffing, 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.