Arid Peak Lookout in ID -- Campground & RV Camping in Idaho
Arid Peak Lookout in ID
U.S. Forest Service allows overnight stays only at the designated sites here.
Perched at 5,306 feet in the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Arid Peak Lookout is a 1934 fire tower overlooking the Loop Creek area. Reaching the cabin requires a moderately steep three-mile hike. The 20-foot tower sleeps up to four people with two cots, a table, wood stove, propane camp stove, lantern, and cookware, alongside an outside outhouse. Guests must bring drinking water and 16.4-ounce propane canisters. Visitors come for 360-degree views of the Bitterroot Mountains, local foot trails, and the nearby Hiawatha Bicycle Trail, which features trestles and tunnels.
The road in has not been measured -- unknown, not bad. Flat ground is scarce -- under a tenth of the terrain within a few hundred yards is level.
Private here -- the nearest through road is 1.2 miles off, a single-site campground. Cabins and shelters rather than pads -- 1 hike-in site. North Fork Saint Joe River runs 1.1 mi off. The nearest town, Wallace, is 11 mi off.
September normals 41–62°F, 1.9″ rain. Monthly averages, PRISM 1991–2020.
Set by U.S. Forest Service. Stage 1 and 2 orders change within days -- check the current order before you build a fire.
fs.usda.gov