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Fire lookout · Kootenai County, Idaho

Twin Crags Lookout

Kootenai County, Idaho: 1931 pole tower, 1946 L-4 tower moved from Echo Peak, cab sold in 1963; a 2025 visit found the tower still there without its cab.

Ruins: Only footings or remains are left. Sources differ: a 2025 visit found the tower still there without its cab, and the Forest Fire Lookout Association lists ruins

Visit & stay

Ruins: footings or remains only. There is no structure 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?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
WillhiteWeb describes a rough 4WD road most of the way; hiking distance under half a mile

Facts

Status
Ruins sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower20-foot pole L-4 tower moved here in 1946; the first tower was a 30-foot live-in pole tower built in 1931The design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,400 ft (1,951 m)
Agency
Idaho Dept. of Lands
Land
Unknown
Location
Kootenai County, Idaho
Coordinates
47.43465, −116.35715
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-twin-crags

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 3.9 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. 1931 Built30-foot pole tower with live-in cabSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1941 StaffedFrank Snyder, per Idaho Fire LookoutsSource: idahofirelookouts.com
  3. 1944 StaffedFrank Mead, per Idaho Fire Lookouts and firelookout.comSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  4. 1946 DestroyedWindstorm destroyed the first tower; the year 1946 comes from peakbagging.com onlySource: peakbagging.com
  5. 1946 Moved20-foot L-4 pole tower moved from Echo Peak (Echo Lookout per WillhiteWeb)Sources: idahofirelookouts.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1946 and 1963
  7. 1963 RemovedCab sold to a farmer; superstructure remainsSources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com, willhiteweb.com
  8. TodayRuinsOnly footings or remains are 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 Crags Lookout sits on a sub-summit of Latour Peak in Kootenai County, Idaho.1,2 Sources give its elevation as about 6,400 feet.1,3 WillhiteWeb gives the Twin Crags point as 6,360 feet.2

The first lookout here, built in 1931, was a 30-foot pole tower with living quarters in its cab.1,3,2 A windstorm destroyed it.1,3 Peakbagging.com dates that storm to 1946.4

In 1946 a 20-foot L-4 pole tower was moved to the site from Echo Peak.1,3 WillhiteWeb calls the origin Echo Lookout.2

Idaho Fire Lookouts names Frank Snyder for 1941, citing a photo collection, and Frank Mead for 1944, citing the Kellogg Evening News.3 Firelookout.com also lists Frank Mead for 1944.1

A farmer bought the cab in 1963, but the superstructure remained.1,3,2

The sources disagree about what stands today. Firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts both say the superstructure remains.1,3 The Forest Fire Lookout Association calls the site ruins.5 WillhiteWeb reports that in 2025 the tower was still there, and the cab had left no trace.2 A 2015 photo caption on peakbagging.com shows what is left of the 1946 structure and mentions a piece of concrete near the lookout.4

WillhiteWeb says most of the drive is up a track that needs four-wheel drive. It calls the route ungated and unmarked, with a hike of less than half a mile.2 Idaho Fire Lookouts tags the site as drive-up.3 Peakbagging.com places the site on Idaho state land.4 None of these sources says whether the public may enter the site, so check with the landowner before going.

Firelookout.com credits the Idaho Department of Lands, while Idaho Fire Lookouts names the Coeur d'Alene National Forest.1,3

  1. Twin Crags Fire Lookout Tower, Forest Fire Lookout (firelookout.com), https://www.firelookout.com/id/twincrags.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Latour Peak and Twin Crags Lookout, WillhiteWeb, https://willhiteweb.com/idaho_lookouts/twin_crags_lookout/latour_peak_059.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Twin Crags Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/st-joe-clearwater-region/twin-crags-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Twin Crags (LO site), Idaho, peakbagging.com, http://www.peakbagging.com/IDLookoutPhotos/TwinCrags.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  5. Idaho Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/id (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

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 whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Ruins
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Standing

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: elevation, agency, 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: 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. 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.