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Fire lookout · Elmore County, Idaho

Swanholm Peak Lookout

Also known as Swanholm Lookout

Boise NF fire-detection site since 1921; log cab 1922, current L-4 cab 1954 or 1958; no longer staffed, platform closed to visitors.

Closed

The site is closed to visitors. Forest Service page lists the site as closed and says no access is allowed to the observation platform. Summit is reached by a gated 4WD road, open June 15 to September 15 per the climbing guide.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Closed. See the warning at the top of this page.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
4WD road to the summit (FSR-251 via FS-327), gated but open June 15 to September 15 per the climbing guide. Platform closed; check with the Idaho City Ranger District first.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-4The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1922
Height
Unknown
Elevation
8,733 ft (2,662 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Boise National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Elmore County, Idaho
Coordinates
43.89267, −115.32600
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-swanholm-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.

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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. 1921 First staffedEula G. Morton appointed fire lookout, April 1921, per a clipping reprinted on the Forest Lookouts page. NHLR dates the peak's use as a fire detection site to 1921.Sources: nhlr.org, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1922 BuiltFirst structure: a log cabin built on the ground. Idaho Fire Lookouts and the Forest Lookouts page give the same year.Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1925 StaffedW. F. Cable lived alone at the lookout through the spring and summer. Clipping dated January 3, 1926, so the season is inferred as 1925.Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1929 StaffedWilliam Rafferty went to the lookout in June 1929; the trip took two days by pack horse.Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1929 and 1945
  6. 1945 StaffedEula Bibo, who first worked the station in 1921, returned for the summer. Her son John, 16, worked in her place on Sundays.Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1954 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  8. 1954 Replaced by a new structureCurrent cab (Region 1 Plan / L-4) replaced the 1922 ground cabin on a 10-foot concrete base. Idaho Fire Lookouts and firelookout.com give different years; see resolved_conflicts.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1958 EventIdaho Fire Lookouts dates its L-4 cab on an 8-foot concrete base to 1958.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  10. No record between 1958 and 2020
  11. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 27, 2020 as NHLR US 1428, ID 120.Source: nhlr.org
  12. 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.

Swanholm Peak has been a fire detection site since 1921.1 That year the Idaho Statesman reported that Eula G. Morton of Dubois had been appointed to the station, and it called her the first woman the Forest Service had hired for a lookout post on the Boise forest.2

The first structure was a log cabin built on the ground in 1922, a date Idaho Fire Lookouts and the Forest Lookouts page also give.1,3,2 The current cab is harder to pin down. According to the register, a Region 1 Plan cabin replaced the log building in 1954, set on a 10-foot tower of concrete block.1 The Forest Lookouts page dates a two-story building with an L-4 cab and a 10-foot concrete lower level to 1954.2 Idaho Fire Lookouts describes an L-4 cab on an 8-foot concrete base and dates it to 1958.3 Firelookout.com gives 1954 with a question mark and also describes an L-4 cab on an 8-foot base.4

Staffing was seasonal, and the clippings name a string of lookouts. A January 1926 clipping says W. F. Cable spent the whole spring and summer alone at the station.2 William Rafferty went up in June 1929, and the pack-horse trip took two days.2 In 1945 Eula Bibo, who had worked the station in 1921, came back for the summer. Her 16-year-old son John covered for her on Sundays.2

The forest no longer staffs the lookout, but the register says it is maintained for emergency use if needed.1 Idaho Fire Lookouts lists it as drive-up with emergency status.3 The climbing guide says it is no longer in use.5 The register added the lookout to its listings on September 27, 2020.1

The Forest Service's Swanholm Lookout page, last updated September 21, 2026, lists the site as closed.6 It bars visitors from the observation platform and refers questions to the Idaho City Ranger District.6 The climbing guide describes a 4WD road to the summit that is gated but open from June 15 to September 15.5 Treat the platform as off limits, and check with the ranger district before you drive up. I found no rental listing for this cab.

  1. Swanholm Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/swanholm-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Swanholm, Forest Lookouts (Idaho), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/swanholm.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Swanholm Peak Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/southern-idaho/swanholm-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Swanholm Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/swanholm.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Swanholm Peak, IDAHO: A Climbing Guide, https://www.idahoaclimbingguide.com/bookupdates/swanholm-peak-2/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Swanholm Lookout, Boise National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/boise/recreation/swanholm-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Swanholm Peak Lookout - 2015
Swanholm Peak Lookout - 2015 (2015)Photo: www.obrianmccadventures.com, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Swanholm Peak Lookout
Photo: www.obrianmccadventures.com, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Swanholm Peak Lookout
Photo: www.obrianmccadventures.com, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Swanholm Peak in 1926
Swanholm Peak in 1926 (1926)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Janell Martin, via firelookout.com · source
Swanholm Peak in 2014
Swanholm Peak in 2014 (2014)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Janell Martin, via firelookout.com · source
Swanholm Peak Lookout
Swanholm Peak LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.com · source

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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 Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  4. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: 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
  5. 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
  6. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: what it is built of, design 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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

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