Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho
Stoddard Creek Lookout
Two-story 10x10 cab dated to 1934 in the Frank Church Wilderness, used into the 1970s, abandoned after, and registered in 2016.
- Standing
- Access unknown
- Verified
Visit & stay
Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.
Access
Access unknown
We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go. Abandoned cab in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, reached on foot or by horseback. The 1982 history quoted by the climbing guide describes it as unsafe inside. No source describes public entry.
- Can you climb it?
- Unknown
- Road to the top?
- No, you have to hike
- Trail
- Hike-in only. The 1982 history quoted by the climbing guide describes at least two days along the Middle Fork-Stoddard Creek Trail from the mouth of the Middle Fork into the Main Salmon River.
- Staffing
- Unknown
Facts
- Status
- sources disagree
- Type
- Two-story building
- Built of
- Not recorded
- Built
- 1934
- Height
- 10 ft (3.0 m)
- Elevation
- 7,536 ft (2,297 m)
- Agency
- U.S. Forest Service
- Land
- Federal land
- Location
- Idaho County, Idaho
- Coordinates
- 45.21787, −114.73650
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-id-stoddard-creek
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
- 1934 BuiltTwo-story 10x10 cab, per NHLR, firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts. A 1982 history quoted by the climbing guide places the build around 1945.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
- 1941 First staffedOccupied from about 1941 through the mid-1970s, per NHLR and Idaho Fire Lookouts.Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
- No record between 1941 and 1977
- 1977 AbandonedRecently abandoned (1977), per the 1982 history quoted by the climbing guide. Firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts say abandoned since the 1970s.Sources: idahoaclimbingguide.com, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
- No record between 1977 and 2016
- 2016 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered March 20, 2016 (US 1122, ID 107).Source: nhlr.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.
The Stoddard Creek lookout is a two-story cab, 10 feet by 10, on the summit in Idaho County.1,2,3 Firelookout.com says the cab is the only structure ever on that summit, and that it sits in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness.2
The register dates the cab to 1934 and says it was occupied from about 1941 through the mid-1970s.1 Firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts also give 1934.2,3 A 1982 history, quoted in the climbing guide, places the build closer to 1945, under a forest supervisor who ordered 10-by-10 cabs to save money.4 The sources disagree, and the 1934 date is the one most of them share.1,2,3
Firelookout.com says the cab was used for emergencies into the 1970s.2 Idaho Fire Lookouts says it has no documented staffing history for the lookout.3 The 1982 history says the lookout reported many fires over the years.4
The same history says the lookout was recently abandoned in 1977.4 Idaho Fire Lookouts and firelookout.com both describe it as abandoned since the 1970s.3,2 The history also says a Wilderness Planning team urged that the cab be destroyed, citing serious hazards inside.4 The register lists an August 2015 photo, and recorded the lookout on March 20, 2016.1 The sources do not say what state the cab is in now.1,2,3
Idaho Fire Lookouts tags the site as hike-in.3 The 1982 history describes access on foot or by horseback, at least two days along the Middle Fork-Stoddard Creek Trail from the Middle Fork's mouth to the Main Salmon River.4 The sources describe the inside as unsafe, and none of them describes public entry or a rental.1,2,3,4
- Stoddard Creek Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/stoddard-creek-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Stoddard Creek Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/stoddard.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Stoddard Creek Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/west-central/stoddard-creek-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Stoddard Creek Lookout, IDAHO: A Climbing Guide, https://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/bookupdates/stoddard-creek-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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Where sources disagree
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Sources disagree on whether it still stands.
- FFLA: Standing
- NHLR: Standing
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Standing
- Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com): Gone
NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered. idahofirelookouts.com's status is read from a short summary.
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: 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
- Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com) (opens another site) 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
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, 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 1122 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- Stoddard Creek Lookout (IDAHO: A Climbing Guide) (opens another site)
- FFLA Idaho lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Stoddard Creek on firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra) (opens another site)
- Stoddard Creek Lookout on idahofirelookouts.com (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.