IDAHO COUNTY
BIG ROCK (62)
Nez Perce National Forest
33N-11E-14
33N-11E-14
1908: A tent camp established with a ladder up a large rock with an alidade on top.
1913: A telephone line built from the Selway River to the lookout point.
1914: A 30-foot ladder built to a ledge in the rock, then holes drilled in the rock face for a cable to hang onto to reach the top. Holes also drilled to fasten down the alidade.
1921: A 30-foot round pole tower with a 7x7 cab erected at a new location approximately one and a half miles south of the Rock. The original site was then abandoned.
1932: A 45-foot round pole tower with a L-6 cab replaced the earlier tower.
1950's: The lookout structure destroyed.
1981: "In 1914, Al Peterson and Ed Gilroy were stationed at Sixty Two as smokechaser and lookout. Ed thought that it was the first regularly manned lookout point on the Fish Lake District.
Big Rock was used as a lookout for a number of years, then a new tower called High Springs was built on 62 Ridge about 1 1/2 miles south of Sixty Two, which was then abandoned." (Louis Hartig, 'Historic Facilities of the Lochsa Ranger District' - 1981)
DESIGNATION - BIG ROCK
PID - RY0934
STATE/COUNTY- ID/IDAHO
COUNTRY - US
USGS QUAD - BIG ROCK MOUNTAIN (1995)
STATION DESCRIPTION
DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1935 (EBL)
ON PEAK OCCUPIED BY 62 LOOKOUT AND IN APPROXIMATE NORTHEAST
CORNER OF SEC. 14, T. 33 N., R. 11 E. (UNSURVEYED).
TO REACH FROM POWELL RANGER STATION, TAKE TRAIL 39, WHICH
LEADS OFF OF THE LOLO MOTORWAY IN THE VICINITY OF THE POWELL
RANGER STATION, AND GO DOWN THE LOSHSA RIVER FOR A DISTANCE OF
11.0 MILES, CROSS THE RIVER ON THE JERRY JOHNSON BRIDGE AND
TAKE TRAIL UP CANYON TO SIGN BEAR MTN. LOOKOUT, TURN RIGHT
AND CROSS RIVER, TAKE A STEEP SLOPE AND GO ALONG RIDGE TO TWO
SIGNS BEAR MTN., POWELL RANGER STATION, TURN LEFT AND TAKE
TRAIL SOUTH TO MC CONNEL PASS, TAKE RIGHT FORK AND FOLLOW TRAIL
TO FISH LAKE AND THE RANGER CABIN. FROM HERE TAKE TRAIL ON
NORTH SIDE OF CABIN AND FOLLOW IT ABOUT 1.5 MILES TO TOP OF
RIDGE AND SADDLE WHERE THERE IS A GROUP OF SIGNS. FOLLOW
TRAIL MARKED TWO LAKES FOR 10.0 MILES, KEEP ON SAME
TRAIL WHICH IS KNOWN FROM HERE AS 62 TRAIL TO ROHDA CREEK,
HERE TAKE RIGHT FORK AND CROSS CREEK FOLLOWING THE MAIN TRAIL
TO THE TOP OF HILL AND STATION.
SURFACE AND REFERENCE MARKS ARE STANDARD BRONZE DISKS SET IN
OUTCROPPING BEDROCK AS DESCRIBED IN NOTES 2A AND 12A RESPECTIVELY.
AZIMUTH MARK IS A U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY STANDARD DISK IN
OUTCROPPING BEDROCK, NOTE 12A.
STATION RECOVERY (1956)
RECOVERY NOTE BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1956 (VRS)
THE LOOKOUT HOUSE WAS OBSERVED FROM A LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT.
IT APPEARS TO BE IN ITS ORIGINAL POSITION. THE 1935 DESCRIPTION
FOR REACHING THE SITE IS ADEQUATE.