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Fire lookout · Missoula County, Montana

Double Arrow Lookout

A 1930s L-4 lookout near Seeley Lake, staffed into the 1980s, now an NRHP-listed Recreation.gov rental overlooking the Swan Mountains.

Visit & stay

You can rent this lookout for overnight stays through recreation.gov.

Season
to fishing, boating and other water-related recreation
Sleeps
Up to 4 people
Getting there
The lookout can be accessed by vehicle, however, the steep dirt and gravel road requires high-clearance vehicles.

Overview The Double Arrow Lookout offers guests a chance to see the Seeley valley and the adjacent Swan Mountains from a different and unique vantage point, high above the hillside. The tower contains a few modern amenities, including electricity, but allows guests to personalize their visits with their own supplies. A variety of recreational opportunities exist in the surrounding mountains, but the view is usually what attracts people to the tower. Recreation Visitors enjoy hunting and hiking. There are a variety of trails that lead from the lookout into the surrounding mountains and valleys. Seeley Lake is located about 2 miles east of Double Arrow and is open to fishing, boating and other water-related recreation. It has a boat ramp, as well as a sandy beach with ample shade for visitors who just want to relax and enjoy the alpine setting. Facilities Double Arrow has an exterior stairway leading to a platform with a covered walkway all the way around the window-encased living quarters. The facility has electric lights, heat, a cook stove and a small refrigerator. An outdoor vault toilet is a short distance from the tower. Two single platforms and two portable cots are provided, able to sleep up to four people. Camping and sleeping are not allowed in the area around and below the lookout. Cell phone service is available in the area. Guests must furnish everything they need in the way of bedding, cooking and eating equipment and cleaning supplies. Guests will also need to bring their own food, towels, soap, garbage bags and toilet paper, among other supplies deemed necessary. The cabin will need to be cleaned before leaving. The lookout can be accessed by vehicle, however, the steep dirt and gravel road requires high-clearance vehicles. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety. Natural Features The lookout is a 14-by-14 structure atop a 20 foot tower. It was built in 1933 and staffed by Forest Service employees until the mid-'80s, when it was opened to the public for recreation purposes. The tower is now listed on the National Historic Lookout Register. The forest contains a wide variety of trees, plants and wildlife, and is home to mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, moose, deer and grizzly and black bears (learn about bear safety ). Both the bald and golden eagle reside in the forest, along with trumpeter swan, herons and dozens of varieties of ducks. Nearby Attractions The lookout is a short distance from the Clearwater River Canoe Trail, which offers a prime location to witness the area's spectacular birding, wildlife viewing and scenic views. The 3.5-mile trail can be completed in a couple hours and is done entirely on the water.

Book on recreation.gov

Rental details from recreation.gov, checked 19 Oct 2026. Rules, fees and seasons change, so confirm on the booking page before you go. Data source: ridb.recreation.gov

Access

Open to the public. Open to the public as a Recreation.gov rental; access road is steep dirt/gravel, high-clearance vehicle recommended

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Reached by vehicle via a steep dirt and gravel access road; no hiking trail noted
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2026)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab with catwalk atop a 20-foot slanting pole tower; 14x14 ft cabinThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1932
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
4,888 ft (1,490 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Lolo National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Missoula County, Montana
Coordinates
47.16438, −113.53074
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 19 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-double-arrow

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 4.1 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. 1932 BuiltNational Historic Lookout Register gives 1932 as the build yearSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1933 BuiltRecreation.gov and firelookout.com both give 1933 instead; sources disagree by one yearSources: recreation.gov, firelookout.com
  3. No record between 1933 and 1985
  4. 1985 Last staffedRecreation.gov says staffed by Forest Service employees until the mid-1980s, when it opened for recreationSource: recreation.gov
  5. 1989 Last staffedNHLR instead says the tower has been used only on an emergency basis since 1989Source: nhlr.org
  6. 1996 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterAdded to the National Historic Lookout Register February 26, 1996Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2006 RestoredRestoration work began.Source: firelookout.org
  8. 2007 FireSaved from destruction by a wildfire a couple of months after the September conference visit. Lookout survived a fire that burned all around the site.Sources: firelookout.org, firelookout.org
  9. 2007 RestoredOngoing restoration project; the lookout was visited by conference attendees in September.Source: firelookout.org
  10. 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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Double Arrow Lookout

Double Arrow Lookout sits on a low hill near Seeley Lake in the Lolo National Forest, Missoula County, Montana.1 The Forest Service built it as an L-4 cab on a 20-foot slanting pole tower; the National Historic Lookout Register dates the construction to 1932, while the current Recreation.gov listing and firelookout.com both give 1933.1,2,3 It was built before a road reached the site, meaning the materials had to be packed in rather than driven up.1

Forest Service employees staffed the tower for decades. Recreation.gov says it was staffed until the mid-1980s, and the National Historic Lookout Register notes it has been used only on an emergency basis since 1989 — accounts that line up reasonably well, with the gap likely covering a short transition period.1,2 Once regular staffing ended, the lookout found a second life as a recreational rental, now booked through Recreation.gov.2,3

The tower was added to the National Historic Lookout Register on February 26, 1996.1 It remains a popular spot with Seeley Lake valley residents simply as a viewpoint, even apart from its rental use.1

Today the lookout still stands and is open to the public. The cabin is a 14-by-14-foot structure on its 20-foot tower, reached by an exterior stairway and surrounded by a covered catwalk.2 Inside there's electric light, heat, a cook stove and a small refrigerator, plus two platforms and two portable cots that sleep up to four people; an outdoor vault toilet sits a short walk away.2 The access road is steep dirt and gravel, and Recreation.gov recommends a high-clearance vehicle to reach it.2 From the catwalk, renters look out over the Seeley valley and the Swan Mountains beyond, the same view the lookout was built to watch for smoke.2

  1. Double Arrow Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/double-arrow-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Double Arrow Lookout, Lolo National Forest, Recreation.gov, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/233240 (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Double Arrow Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra), https://www.firelookout.com/mt/doublearrow.html (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Photo of Double Arrow Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Double Arrow in 1937
Double Arrow in 1937 (1937)Photo: the National Archives and Records Administration, Gary Weber, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Double Arrow L.O.
Double Arrow L.OPhoto: the National Archives and Records Administration, Gary Weber, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Double Arrow in 2019
Double Arrow in 2019 (2019)Photo: the National Archives and Records Administration, Gary Weber, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Double Arrow in 2019
Double Arrow in 2019 (2019)Photo: the National Archives and Records Administration, Gary Weber, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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. Recreation Information Database (recreation.gov) Gave us: ownership, access, rental details, links Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association: lookout rentals Gave us: rental details, links Forest Fire Lookout Association rentals list (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only (state, name, booking link, manager, closure note), no prose copied. The FFLA says it is not involved in managing any rental program. · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  5. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: design, height, dates, 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
  6. 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
  7. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: register numbers, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  8. 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
  9. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, staffing, 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

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