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Fire lookout · Custer County, Idaho

Twin Peaks Lookout

Challis NF lookout made a station in 1913; present R-6 cab on a 10-foot concrete base dates to 1964; Chamber says no longer staffed, summit road open seasonally; registered 2014.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Summit road usually open to vehicles late spring through fall, depending on snow (Challis Chamber). Sources do not describe public entry into the cab itself.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
From Challis, turn onto Challis Creek Road and follow it about 20 miles to the summit, following signs. Last stretch may be rough or narrow; high-clearance vehicle recommended (Challis Chamber).
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingR-6The designs: R-6, L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
10,337 ft (3,151 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Challis National Forest (listed as Salmon-Challis National Forest on current Forest Service pages)
Land
Federal land
Location
Custer County, Idaho
Coordinates
44.59325, −114.47640
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-twin-peaks-2

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.

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. 1913 BuiltAlidade on the summit, with a log cabin about half a mile away.Sources: idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1913 First staffedSummit made a lookout station; a forest guard stationed there during the fire season (clipping dated September 6, 1913).Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1920 Built7 x 7 lookout cabin of lumber packed to the site and native rock.Sources: idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com, idaholookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1924 EventJuly 4, 1924: lightning struck guard V. E. Elliott on duty; he was knocked unconscious, and the strike badly damaged the roof and walls of the lookout building (clipping dated July 8, 1924).Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1932 BuiltL-4 cab per NHLR, Idaho Fire Lookouts and firelookout.com. The Forest Lookouts page instead gives an R-1 14x14 live-in house replacing the older day-use building. See resolved_conflicts.Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1932 and 1964
  7. 1964 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  8. 1964 RebuiltPresent R-6 cab on a 10-foot concrete base, built to replace the 1932 lookout. A March 1965 clipping describes a two-story building with a cinder-block lower level, which the other sources do not mention.Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com, firelookout.com
  9. 1971 StaffedDenver R James listed as staff (Former Forest Fire Lookout Registry).Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  10. 1979 StaffedMike McCarty listed as staff (Former Forest Fire Lookout Registry).Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  11. 1984 StaffedMark Cummins listed as staff for 1984 to 1985, the last staffing period on the Idaho Fire Lookouts list.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  12. No record between 1984 and 2014
  13. 2014 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered March 14, 2014 as NHLR US 1002, ID 103.Source: nhlr.org
  14. 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.

Twin Peaks is part of the divide between the Salmon River basin and the Middle Fork of the Salmon, about 14 miles northwest of Challis in Custer County.1,2,3 A 1913 newspaper item says the higher peak had recently been made a lookout station, with a forest guard assigned to it in fire season.3 The guard's cabin was built about 2,000 feet below the summit, since there was no water or building material up top.3

By 1920 a 7-by-7 lookout cabin of lumber and native rock stood there.3,4,2 The register and Idaho Fire Lookouts say an L-4 cab followed in 1932.1,4 A 1932 entry on the Forest Lookouts page describes an R-1 live-in house instead, so the sources do not agree on that structure.3

In July 1924 lightning struck the lookout's guard, V. E. Elliott, who was knocked unconscious.3 The clipping says the strike seriously damaged the lookout building's roof and walls.3

The present cab went up in 1964: an R-6 on a 10-foot concrete base, built to replace the 1932 lookout.1,4,2 A March 1965 clipping describes a two-story building with a cinder-block lower level and a wooden upper floor.3 That description does not match the concrete base in the other sources.

Idaho Fire Lookouts lists Denver R. James in 1971, Mike McCarty in 1979, and Mark Cummins for 1984 to 1985.4 The Forest Service says it staffs three lookouts each summer, naming Long Tom, Middle Fork and Stein.5 The Challis Chamber of Commerce says the Twin Peaks site is no longer staffed.6 Firelookout.com calls it the highest active fire lookout in the Pacific Northwest. That description does not clearly match the Chamber's account, so current staffing is unresolved.2

The register added Twin Peaks on March 14, 2014, as US 1002, ID 103.1

Today the Chamber says the drive to the summit is usually possible from late spring through fall, depending on snow.6 It advises high-clearance vehicles for the last stretch, which may be rough or narrow.6 From town, the Chamber says to head up Main Street, turn left onto Challis Creek Road and go about 20 miles, following the signs to the summit.6 The sources do not describe visitor entry into the cab, so check with the Salmon-Challis National Forest before you go. I found no rental listing for this cab.

  1. Twin Peaks Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/twin-peaks-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Twin Peaks Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/twinpeaks.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Twin Peaks, Forest Lookouts (Idaho), https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/twin-peaks.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Twin Peaks Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/southern-idaho/twin-peaks-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Fire Lookouts, Salmon-Challis National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r04/salmon-challis/recreation/discover-history/fire-lookouts (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Twin Peaks Lookout, Challis Chamber of Commerce, https://challischamber.com/destinations/twin-peaks-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Twin Peaks Lookout
Photo: Luke Channer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Twin Peaks in the 1920s
Twin Peaks in the 1920s (1920)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Rex Kamstra, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Twin Peaks in the 1950s
Twin Peaks in the 1950s (1950)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Rex Kamstra, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Twin Peaks in the 1950s
Twin Peaks in the 1950s (1950)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Rex Kamstra, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Twin Peaks L.O.
Twin Peaks L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service, Rex Kamstra, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Twin Peaks in 2010
Twin Peaks in 2010 (2010)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Rex Kamstra, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Twin Peaks Lookout
Twin Peaks LookoutPhoto: idahofirelookouts.com · source

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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 the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1964
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1920

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) 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
  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: what it is built of, design, 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
  4. Idaho Fire Lookouts (idahofirelookouts.com) Gave us: staffing, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: 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
  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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