The historic Colby Mountain Fire Lookout will remain staffed and operational for fire season after the decision to close it was reversed.

Two and a half hours north of Sacramento — halfway from anywhere — an ancient metal and wood observation tower perches atop a hillside. For 92 years, someone has kept watch from the Colby Mountain ...

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... There’s a small wooden cabin at the top of Northwest Peak, a few miles from Montana’s borders with Idaho and Canada, and Chuck Manning, 79, believes lookouts ...

There’s a small wooden cabin at the top of Northwest Peak, a few miles from Montana’s borders with Idaho and Canada, and Chuck Manning, 79, believes lookouts like this one deserve a second chance at ...

A camera detection system is a band aid. A camera cannot fully evaluate the surrounding terrain. A camera cannot interpret ...

The tower, located north of Butte Meadows, has been closed since October of 2025 when the U.S. Forest Service announced its ...

PRICHARD, Idaho – The roof on the Little Guard Lookout leaked. The windows wouldn’t open. The outriggers, which hold up the heavy wooden shutters all summer, were splintering. Paint, siding, flooring ...

So, a team of U.S. Forest Service workers and volunteers were careful Tuesday when they used ropes and pulleys to gingerly raise 19 refurbished windows to the top of the abandoned Mineral Peak lookout ...

Idaho Fire Lookouts is an independent research and documentation project focused on the history of fire lookout towers across Idaho. The project combines field research, archival work, and public ...