FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Valley County, Idaho

Whitehawk Lookout

L-4 cab on the Boise National Forest, built in 1933 and staffed in summer; sources disagree on the build year and the NHLR registration year.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-4The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
8,384 ft (2,555 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Valley County, Idaho
Coordinates
44.28744, −115.53073
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-id-whitehawk

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. 1933 BuiltL-4 cab built about a mile south of the summit. One forest lookout site gives 1934 for the same standard L-4 house.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, idahofirelookouts.com
  2. 1940 StaffedFranklin A Schoeffler, per Idaho Fire Lookouts' known-staff list. Not confirmed by other sources read.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  3. No record between 1940 and 1976
  4. 1976 StaffedDonna Kreiensieck, per Idaho Fire Lookouts' known-staff list.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  5. 1986 StaffedMr. and Mrs. Ronald G. Harbison, per Idaho Fire Lookouts' known-staff list.Source: idahofirelookouts.com
  6. No record between 1986 and 2011
  7. 2011 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered September 24, 2011. Idaho Fire Lookouts gives 2020 for the addition to the Register.Sources: nhlr.org, idahofirelookouts.com
  8. 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.

Whitehawk Lookout stands on the Boise National Forest in Valley County, Idaho, at 8,384 feet.1 The National Historic Lookout Register describes it as an L-4 groundhouse with a catwalk.1 Most sources date its construction to 1933 and place the cab about a mile south of the summit.2,3 One forest lookout site gives 1934 for the same standard L-4 house, so the build year is not fully settled.4

Firelookout.com says the cab is staffed in the summer.2 Idaho Fire Lookouts lists three known staff members: Franklin A. Schoeffler in 1940, Donna Kreiensieck in 1976, and Mr. and Mrs. Ronald G. Harbison in 1986.3 The same site asks readers to share more names and dates, which suggests the list is incomplete.3

None of the pages read describes the lookout as abandoned, moved or burned.1,2,3,4 The Register says it remains active and gives September 24, 2011, as its registration date.1 Idaho Fire Lookouts instead gives 2020 as the year it was added to the Register, so the two dates disagree.3

Idaho Fire Lookouts labels Whitehawk as a drive-up site that is staffed.3 The pages read do not say whether visitors may go into the cab or climb anything, and none of them mentions a rental.2,3 Because the cab is staffed in summer, expect a working lookout and check with the Boise National Forest before going.2

  1. Whitehawk Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/id/whitehawk-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Whitehawk Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/id/whitehawk.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Whitehawk Lookout, Idaho Fire Lookouts, https://www.idahofirelookouts.com/west-central/whitehawk-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Whitehawk, Forest Lookouts, https://idaholookouts.weebly.com/whitehawk.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Whitehawk Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Whitehawk Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout interior
Lookout interiorPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Whitehawk L.O.
Whitehawk L.OPhoto: Steve Sidlo and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Whitehawk in July 2010
Whitehawk in July 2010 (2010)Photo: Steve Sidlo and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Whitehawk Lookout
Whitehawk 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. 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, 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) 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
  6. 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.