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Fire lookout · Flathead County, Montana

Baptiste Lookout

A 1964 R-6 timber tower in the Flathead National Forest replaced a 1928 tower; its lower stairs came out in 2005, and it is staffed in summer.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Lower stairs were removed in 2005 for vandalism and liability reasons. NHLR does not say they were replaced, so do not assume the tower can be climbed.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
On a ridge west of Mount Baptiste, roughly 25 miles southeast of Hungry Horse, Montana
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerTreated-timber tower with a flat-roofed R-6 cab, built 1964 to replace a 1928 30-foot towerThe design: R-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1928
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
6,698 ft (2,042 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Flathead National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Flathead County, Montana
Coordinates
48.12526, −113.65897
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-baptiste

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

Downloads about 4.2 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 EventSite first used for lookout work, with a camp (firelookout.com)Source: firelookout.com
  2. 1928 Built30-foot pole tower with a 12x12 ft cab addedSource: firelookout.com
  3. No record between 1928 and 1964
  4. 1964 BuiltCurrent treated-timber tower with R-6 flat cab builtSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  5. 1964 Replaced by a new structure1964 tower replaced the 1928 30-foot towerSource: nhlr.org
  6. 1971 Last staffedStaffed annually until 1971, with minimal maintenance afterSource: nhlr.org
  7. No record between 1971 and 2005
  8. 2005 RemovedLower stairs removed due to vandalism and liability concernsSource: nhlr.org
  9. 2011 RestoredRehabilitation began after a 2010 Forest Service site assessment; NHLR expected completion in fall 2013Source: nhlr.org
  10. 2012 RestoredBrought back into shape by volunteers.Source: firelookout.org
  11. 2012 StaffedAnnual volunteer staffing startedSource: nhlr.org
  12. 2014 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, April 11, 2014; nominated by Brian PowellSource: nhlr.org
  13. 2015 AlteredBackcountry Horsemen packed up a 6-ft picnic table donated by NMLA; volunteers stained and assembled it.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  14. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Baptiste Lookout sits on a ridge west of Mount Baptiste in the Flathead National Forest, roughly 25 miles southeast of Hungry Horse, Montana.1,2 The current tower dates to 1964 and replaced a 1928 30-foot tower.1 Lookout use here began around 1917, and a 30-foot pole tower with a 12-by-12-foot cab went up in 1928.2

The 1964 tower is a 30-foot treated-timber structure with a flat-roofed R-6 cab.2 It was staffed every year until 1971 and got little maintenance after that.1 Firelookout says it was used for emergencies into the 1970s and then sat abandoned for decades.2 In 2005 the lower stairs came out because of vandalism and liability risks.1

The Forest Service assessed the site in 2010 and started rehabilitation in 2011, with completion expected in fall 2013.1 Volunteers began annual staffing in 2012.1 The register's timeline leaves the finish date a little unclear, and I could not confirm from these sources whether the stairs were put back.1

Today the tower is staffed in summer.2 A 2026 Flathead Beacon feature says Mark Hufstetler, who started as a volunteer in 2015, now works for the Forest Service at the lookout.3 Because the register says the lower stairs came out in 2005, do not count on climbing the tower. Check with the Flathead National Forest before a visit.1

  1. Baptiste Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/baptiste-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Baptiste Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/baptiste.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. A Century of Sentries, Flathead Beacon, https://flatheadbeacon.com/2026/03/27/a-century-of-sentries/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Baptiste Lookout
Photo: NWMT-FFLA, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Baptiste in 1917
Baptiste in 1917 (1917)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Dominic Luebbers and Mark Hufstetler, via firelookout.com · source
Baptiste L.O.
Baptiste L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service, Dominic Luebbers and Mark Hufstetler, via firelookout.com · source
Baptiste in 2004
Baptiste in 2004 (2004)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Dominic Luebbers and Mark Hufstetler, via firelookout.com · source
Baptiste in 2019
Baptiste in 2019 (2019)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Dominic Luebbers and Mark Hufstetler, via firelookout.com · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: what it is built of, design, height, photos, 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. Northwest Montana Lookout Association Gave us: dates, links Northwest Montana Lookout Association (nwmt-ffla.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, dimensions, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the NMLA page or PDF it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR and FFLA records (NMLA publishes none). · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  7. 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
  8. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, visiting details, 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.