Lookout Pass Webcam – Idaho’s Original Ski Area

The Lookout Pass Webcam looks across the summit clearing at the top of the Peak 1 Quad, where the ski patrol hut stands at about 1,722 meters (5,650 feet) in the Bitterroot Range. Empty chairs hang over the lift line on the right of the frame, a trail sign marks the drop into Huckleberry Ridge, and fir and hemlock close off the back of the clearing. In summer the ground is dry grass and gravel, crossed by riders on the lift-served bike trails; from late fall it is under snow. A second camera at the bottom of Chair 4 covers the base area.

About Lookout Pass

Lookout Pass sits on the Idaho and Montana state line at Interstate 90 Exit 0, where the highway crosses the Bitterroot Range at 1,436 meters (4,710 feet). The ski area spreads over both sides of the divide, in Shoshone County, Idaho and Mineral County, Montana, which is why the trail map carries runs called Idaho Face and Montana Face.

Skiing here goes back to 1935, when local skiers rigged a rope tow using the engine from an abandoned car. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the lodge in 1941, and the resort still calls it the second oldest ski lodge in the Pacific Northwest after Timberline on Mount Hood. A free ski school for children, dated by the resort to 1940, has run every winter since.

The Lookout Pass Webcam covers one corner of a mountain that grew sharply in 2022, when the Eagle Peak quad added 200 hectares (500 acres) and 14 trails. The area now measures 414 hectares (1,023 acres) on five chairlifts, with a high point of 1,874 meters (6,150 feet) and a vertical drop of 503 meters (1,650 feet).

Weather and Climate at Lookout Pass

The pass is high and sits in the path of Pacific storms, which is how the resort arrives at an average season snowfall near 11 meters (450 inches). At the camera’s elevation, January days average about minus 3 C (26 F) and nights minus 9 C (16 F). The clearing spends long stretches inside cloud, and the picture often goes flat. March warms to around 1 C (34 F) by day, and snow usually holds on the upper mountain into April.

Summer is short. July averages 22 C (72 F) by day and 11 C (52 F) at night, and the slope bleaches to pale grass with huckleberries ripening along the lift line. October falls to 7 C (45 F) by day and below freezing overnight, so the first white on the summit reaches the Lookout Pass Webcam weeks before the lifts turn.

Things to Do Near Lookout Pass

The Route of the Hiawatha begins about 11 kilometers (7 miles) east of the pass, and Lookout Pass operates it under a Forest Service permit. The 24 kilometer (15 mile) rail trail follows the old Milwaukee Road grade through nine tunnels and seven steel trestles, opening with 2.7 kilometers (1.66 miles) of darkness in the St. Paul Pass Tunnel, bored under the state line. Rentals and shuttle tickets are handled at the East Portal trailhead at Taft, Montana.

Closer in, the NorPac Trail follows the old Northern Pacific Railway grade over the pass, and the Mullan Road of 1860 crossed three miles south at Mullan Pass, 1,575 meters (5,168 feet). Down the Silver Valley, the Wallace Historic District has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1979, and the Sierra Silver Mine Tour runs a trolley from Cedar Street into a real drift.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

Three more mountain views, two of them in Idaho.

• Tamarack Webcam
• Snoqualmie Pass Webcam
• Island Park Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lookout Pass located?

On the Idaho and Montana state line in the Bitterroot Range, at Interstate 90 Exit 0, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) east of Mullan, Idaho.

What can you see on the Lookout Pass Webcam?

The summit clearing at the top of the Peak 1 Quad: the ski patrol hut, lift towers and chairs, a trail sign and the wooded ridges behind them.

How much snow does Lookout Pass get?

The resort publishes an average of about 11 meters (450 inches) a season.

Can you ski in two states at Lookout Pass?

Yes. The terrain lies in Shoshone County, Idaho and Mineral County, Montana.

When does the Lookout Pass ski season start?

The resort aims to open in November and runs daily from mid December to the end of March, with a shorter week into the third weekend of April.

Is there anything to do at Lookout Pass in summer?

Scenic chairlift rides and lift-served downhill mountain biking run through the warm months, and the Route of the Hiawatha opens from late May.

Source: Lookout Pass Ski and Recreation Area