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Fire lookout · Sanders County, Montana

Baldy Mountain Lookout Site

Sanders County, MT lookout site: cupola cabin, L-4 tower, then a 30-foot timber tower (1979); removed by 1990; concrete footings remain at the summit (2016).

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed by 1990; concrete footings remain at the summit according to a July 2016 photo log

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

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

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerCupola cabin (1928), then a 20-foot L-4 tower (1949) and a 30-foot treated timber tower (1979)The designs: L-4, Cupola house
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1928
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,450 ft (2,271 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Sanders County, Montana
Coordinates
47.62161, −114.82581
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-baldy-mountain-2

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 4.4 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. 1917 EventForest Service and Montana jointly built a camp on the summit (not a lookout)Source: firetower.org
  2. 1922 EventNewspaper item: work started on a lookout house near PlainsSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1928 BuiltCabin with a cupola (register and firelookout.com); the Montana site dates a log-style cabin with a cupola to 1927Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, montanalookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1936 StaffedNewspaper item quoted on the Montana site says Maynard Johnson was stationed on Baldy LookoutSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1949 Built20-foot L-4 tower (register, firelookout.com, peakbagging); the Montana site dates an L-4 house on a timber tower to 1957Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, peakbagging.com
  6. 1957 BuiltMontana site: L-4 lookout house constructed atop a treated timber towerSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1961 RemovedMontana site: the older lookout structure was removed after sitting beside the tower for several yearsSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1961 and 1979
  9. 1979 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  10. 1979 Replaced by a new structure30-foot treated timber tower replaced the 20-foot towerSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, peakbagging.com
  11. 1990 RemovedRegister: removed in 1990; firelookout.com: gone 1990; peakbagging: gone by 1990Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, peakbagging.com
  12. No record between 1990 and 2015
  13. 2015 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register on August 30, 2015Source: firetower.org
  14. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Forest Service and Montana built a camp together on Baldy Mountain in 1917.1 In 1922, a newspaper item quoted on the Montana lookouts site reported that work had started on a lookout house near Plains.2

The cabin with a cupola came next. The register and firelookout.com both date it to 1928,1,3 but the Montana site dates a log-style cabin with a cupola to 1927.4

A 20-foot L-4 tower followed in 1949, according to the register and firelookout.com.1,3 The Montana site instead puts an L-4 house on a treated timber tower in 1957.4 The sources disagree on these dates.

A newspaper item from September 1936 said Maynard Johnson was stationed on the lookout.2

The register says a 30-foot treated timber structure replaced the 20-foot one in 1979, and that the lookout was removed in 1990.1 Firelookout.com gives the same 1979 and 1990 dates.3 The Montana site says an older structure was removed in 1961, after sitting beside the newer tower for several years.4

A photo log from July 2016 notes that concrete footings are still at the summit.5 It also suggests that a rock platform may have been the base of the 1928 cabin.5 The site is in the Lolo National Forest, about 11 miles north of Plains.3,5 No source says whether the summit is open to the public today.

  1. Baldy Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/mt/baldy-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Baldy Mountain, Forest Lookouts (Montana), https://montanalookouts.weebly.com/baldy-mountain2.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Baldy Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/baldymtn344.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Baldy Mountain, Forest Lookouts (Montana), https://montanalookouts.weebly.com/baldy-mountain1.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Baldy Mountain, Peakbagging.com, http://www.peakbagging.com/MTLookoutPhotos/BaldyMtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Baldy Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Chad Kinzel, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · 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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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: 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. 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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.