FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Idaho County, Idaho

War Eagle Lookout

1931 log-crib lookout replaced in 1961 by an R-6 flat-top cab near Warren, Idaho; drive-up Forest Service site, generally staffed in fire season.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Drive-up Forest Service lookout, generally staffed during fire season. No source describes public climbing or rental.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 2020)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingR-6 flat-top cab on a ten-foot concrete block base (1961 replacement); original was an L-4 cab on a log crib (1931)The designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
8,200 ft (2,499 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Payette National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Idaho County, Idaho
Coordinates
45.32191, −115.79475
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-war-eagle

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 4.2 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 BuiltFirst tower: ten-foot log crib with an L-4 cab, per Firelookout.com and Idaho Fire Lookouts.Sources: firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  2. 1944 StaffedSalt Lake Tribune item (reprinted on Rex's Fire Lookout Page) names a retired banker and his wife at War Eagle assisting with fire work.Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1953 FireNewspaper item places a blaze near War Eagle Lookout, ten miles from Warren.Source: idaholookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1961 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  5. 1961 Replaced by a new structureOriginal structure replaced by a Region 6 flat-top cab on a ten-foot concrete block base.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  6. 1971 StaffedIdaho Fire Lookouts known-staff list begins with Judy Puderbaugh, 1971 (list continues to 2012).Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  7. No record between 1971 and 2020
  8. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on November 29, 2020.Source: nhlr.org
  9. 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.

War Eagle Lookout stands at about 8,200 feet in the Payette National Forest, roughly seven miles northwest of Warren in Idaho County.1 The first tower here was a ten-foot log crib topped with an L-4 cab, and two sources date it to 1931.1,2 The National Historic Lookout Register gives 1961 as the build year instead, although its own description mentions the earlier log crib tower.3 In 1961 a new structure replaced the original: a Region 6 flat-top cab on a ten-foot concrete block base.3,1,4

In August 1944 a Salt Lake Tribune item, reprinted on a lookout history page, described a retired banker and his wife staying at War Eagle and helping fight fires during the war.4 A July 1953 newspaper item on the same page placed a blaze near the lookout, ten miles from Warren, that winds fanned.4 Idaho Fire Lookouts keeps a known-staff list that runs from 1971 to 2012.2

The National Historic Lookout Register added War Eagle on November 29, 2020.3 The Payette National Forest administers the site, and a regional lookout list still shows the tower as standing.3,5

Sources differ on the schedule. One says the lookout is staffed in the summer, while the registry says it is generally staffed during the fire season.1,3 Today the site is a drive-up lookout.2 Check with the Payette National Forest about current staffing dates and visiting rules before you plan a trip.

  1. War Eagle Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/wareagle.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. War Eagle Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/west-central/war-eagle-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. War Eagle Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/war-eagle-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. War Eagle - Forest Lookouts, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/war-eagle.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Idaho lookout list, firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/id (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

War Eagle Lookout - 2012
War Eagle Lookout - 2012 (2012)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
War Eagle 1931-1961
War Eagle 1931-1961 (1931)Photo: the Dave Bula collection, Liter Spence and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
War Eagle in 1961
War Eagle in 1961 (1961)Photo: the Dave Bula collection, Liter Spence and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
War Eagle in 2005
War Eagle in 2005 (2005)Photo: the Dave Bula collection, Liter Spence and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
War Eagle Lookout
War Eagle 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: 1961
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1931

    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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) 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, height, status, agency, access, staffing, 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.