FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho

Twin Butte Lookout

Nez Perce NF lookout on Twin Butte, built 1925-1929 as a platform with a log cupola cabin; destroyed 1951. No source describes what remains.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Destroyed in 1951 per four sources; no source describes what, if anything, remains on 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?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Idaho Fire Lookouts describes the site as a hike-in

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Two-story building20-foot platform with a log cupola cabinThe design: Cupola house
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1925
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Nez Perce National Forest (administration moved from the Bitterroot National Forest in 1957)
Land
Federal land
Location
Idaho County, Idaho
Coordinates
46.06580, −114.68572
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-twin-butte

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 3.6 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. 1925 BuiltUSFS list gives 1925 for the 20-foot platform; Kresek, via Forest Lookouts, gives 1925 for a log cabin with cupolaSources: fs.usda.gov, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1928 BuiltFirelookout.com dates the 20-foot platform to 1928Source: firelookout.com
  3. 1929 BuiltLog cabin with cupola; firelookout.com and the USFS list both give 1929Sources: fs.usda.gov, firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1929 and 1947
  5. 1947 EventA bear broke into the lookout on August 21, 1947Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1951 DestroyedDestroyed; the USFS list gives destroyed 1951Sources: fs.usda.gov, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  7. 1957 EventAdministration of the site transferred from the Bitterroot NF to the Nez Perce NFSource: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  8. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Twin Butte Lookout stood on Twin Butte, about 12 miles east-southeast of the Moose Creek Ranger Station, at 6,878 feet.1,2

Sources disagree on the early dates.1,3,4 The Forest Service list gives 1925 for a 20-foot platform and 1929 for a log cabin with a cupola.1 Firelookout.com puts the platform in 1928 and the cabin in 1929.3 Forest Lookouts quotes Kresek for a log cabin with a cupola in 1925.4

An undated inventory of the Moose Creek district, quoted by Forest Lookouts, describes the 1929 lookout as having a rock and cement foundation, a high front porch, and a tiled roof with "TWIN" in white tile.4

Idaho Fire Lookouts lists Eldon "Pat" Dunlop under Known Staff, with no dates, and asks readers for more on who staffed the tower, or when.2 A bear broke into the lookout on August 21, 1947.4

The lookout was destroyed in 1951.1,2,3,4 In 1957 its administration moved from the Bitterroot National Forest to the Nez Perce National Forest.4 Firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts both name the Nez Perce National Forest as the agency today.3,2 The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists the lookout as gone.5

Idaho Fire Lookouts describes the site as a hike-in.2 No source we read describes what, if anything, remains on the site, and none says whether the site is open to the public.1,2,3,4,5

  1. Nez Perce National Forest Lookouts, US Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/media/259204 (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Twin Butte Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/selway-region/twin-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Twin Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/twinbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Twin Butte - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts, https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/twin-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  5. Idaho Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/id (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Twin Butte Lookout
Twin Butte 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.

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: agency, 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
  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.