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Fire lookout · Lewis and Clark County, Montana

Hogback Mountain Lookout

Helena NF lookout NE of Helena, MT: L-4 cab 1936, present R-6 cab 1961; NHLR-registered 2022; 2018 Forest Service disposal notice and 2024 threat report; manned in summer per recreation.gov.

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. Reached by passenger vehicle per the nearby cabin's recreation.gov listing, which says the lookout is manned mid-June through September. Whether the cab is open to visitors is not stated. Level is my judgment.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingR-6 flat cab atop a 10-foot concrete base (built 1961); first lookout had an L-4 cab (1936)The designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1936
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
7,809 ft (2,380 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Lewis and Clark County, Montana
Coordinates
46.82632, −111.71036
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-hogback-mountain

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. 1936 Builtfirst lookout with an L-4 cabSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1945 Firesmoke seen from the lookout; fire spread from about five acres to 25 acres in under two hoursSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1958 Eventwalkie-talkie radio and binoculars taken in a break-in at the lookoutSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1961 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  5. 1961 Replaced by a new structurepresent R-6 flat cab on 10-foot concrete baseSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1961 and 2018
  7. 2018 Condition assessmentForest Service Hogback Lookout Disposal project began September 10, 2018; the lookout was determined excessSource: fs.usda.gov
  8. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout Registerregistered April 12, 2022 as US 1537, MT 100; nominated by Kyle StetlerSource: nhlr.org
  9. 2024 EventForest Fire Lookout Association chapter report says Hogback seems to be the primary lookout threatenedSource: 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Hogback Mountain rises about 21 miles northeast of Helena, in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest.1,2

The first lookout had an L-4 cab, dated to 1936 by the National Historic Lookout Register.1 That August a Northern Region News item reported that a telephone line was within striking distance of the lookout, built with Civilian Conservation Corps labor.3

The present cab, an R-6 flat cab on a ten-foot concrete base, was built in 1961.1,2 In July 1945 smoke seen from the lookout led to a fire that spread from about five acres to 25 in under two hours.3 A 1949 plan to install a radio at the lookout was reported, and in 1958 a walkie-talkie radio and binoculars were stolen in a break-in there.3

Its later history is less settled. In September 2018 the Forest Service started a Hogback Lookout Disposal project.4 It said the lookout had not been used in several years, had deteriorated, and had been determined excess to the agency.4 A 2024 Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter report, which tracks proposed lookout removals, said Hogback seemed to be the primary lookout threatened.5 The Register registered the lookout in April 2022 and says it may be staffed in summer.1

Today the nearby Indian Flats Cabin has a Recreation.gov listing, but the site does not take bookings for it.6 Its listing says the lookout is reached by passenger vehicle and is manned by Forest Service personnel from mid-June through September.6 That conflicts with the 2018 notice, and I could not confirm what happened after it, so the lookout's current status is unsettled. Check with the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest before going up.

  1. Hogback Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/hogback-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Hogback Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/hogbackmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Hogback Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts Montana (montanalookouts.weebly.com), https://montanalookouts.weebly.com/hogback-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Hogback Lookout Disposal, NEPA project 54666, USDA Forest Service Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/helena-lewisclark/projects/54666 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association, North Idaho/Montana Chapter report (2024), https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/cr-id-n-mt-2024.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Indian Flats Cabin, Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Recreation.gov, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/poi/234451 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Hogback Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hogback Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hogback Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hogback Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Hogback Mtn. in 1946
Hogback Mtn. in 1946 (1946)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Dale Osborne, via firelookout.com · source
Hogback Mtn. L.O.
Hogback Mtn. L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service and Dale Osborne, via firelookout.com · source
Hogback Mtn. L.O.
Hogback Mtn. L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service and Dale Osborne, via firelookout.com · source
Hogback Mtn. in 2002
Hogback Mtn. in 2002 (2002)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Dale Osborne, via firelookout.com · 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. 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. 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, 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

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