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Fire lookout · Shoshone County, Idaho

Sunset Peak Lookout SIte

Summit lookout above Wallace, Idaho: log cabin 1916, concrete base with R-6 cab 1957, destroyed 1975; the base now holds communications gear.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab destroyed in 1975; the concrete base now houses communications equipment

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?
Unknown
Trail
A 2020 hike guide describes a route that starts on logging roads and leads uphill to a gate signed restricted access. No source says whether the public may use it.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Two-story buildingConcrete two-story base with R-6 flat cab (1957)The designs: R-6, L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1916
Height
424 ft (129.2 m)
Elevation
6,424 ft (1,958 m)
Agency
Idaho Department of Natural Resources
Land
Federal land
Location
Shoshone County, Idaho
Coordinates
47.56342, −115.83482
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-sunset-peak

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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.7 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. 1911 First staffedEarliest name in the Idaho list of known staff (James Daniels, cited there to the Spokesman Review)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  2. 1916 BuiltLog cabin builtSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  3. 1928 AlteredCupola added atop the cabinSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  4. No record between 1928 and 1950
  5. 1950 MovedL-4 cab moved to the summit from Maple PeakSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  6. 1957 Replaced by a new structureConcrete base with R-6 flat cab replaced the L-4 cabSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  7. 1971 Last staffedLast dated name in the Idaho list before a disputed early-1980s entry (Howard Crist)Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  8. 1975 DestroyedDestroyed (firelookout.com); listed as Destroyed/Repurposed (Idaho list)Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  9. No record between 1975 and 2019
  10. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 18, 2019 as US 1755, ID 19Source: firetower.org
  11. 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 Sunset Peak lookout stood on a summit about 7 miles northeast of Wallace, Idaho, in the Coeur d'Alene National Forest.1,2 The register says several lookouts were built on the site.2 A log cabin went up in 1916, and a cupola was added in 1928.1,3

In 1950 an L-4 cab was moved to the summit from nearby Maple Peak, where it had been built in 1938.1,3 In 1957 a concrete base with an R-6 flat cab replaced it.1,3

The Idaho site lists known staff from 1911 to the early 1980s, including Charles Grodeski in 1915 and Bill Streeter in 1971.3 Its last entry, Howard Crist, is dated only to the early 1980s. That falls after the 1975 destruction, so we could not confirm the entry.3,1

The lookout was destroyed in 1975.1,3 The register says the lookout is long gone. It also says the base now has a roof and holds gear for an antenna tower on the summit.2 The register calls the base cinder block. The Idaho site says the lower floor is concrete and is now used for electronics.2,3

The Idaho site also says the cabin's cement pad can still be located, along with two benchmarks.3 A 2020 hike guide reports an antenna and a couple of small buildings at the summit.4 The same guide describes a logging-road approach that leads uphill to a gate signed "restricted access."4 No source we read says whether the public may go up, so check access before you go.

The register lists the site as US 1755, ID 19, registered September 18, 2019, on the nomination of Tom Taylor.2

  1. Sunset Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/sunsetpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Sunset Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/id/sunset-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Sunset Peak Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/cda-region/sunset-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Sunset Peak, NaughtyHiker, https://www.naughtyhiker.com/sunset-peak/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Repurposed base of the last tower
Repurposed base of the last towerPhoto: Tom Taylor, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Sunset Peak Lookout
Sunset Peak LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.com · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, 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: dates, 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
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, ownership, 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, 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.