FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Gallatin County, Montana

Horse Butte Lookout

A 1953 L-4 live-in cab on a 41-foot timber tower above Hebgen Lake, still standing; staffed only sometimes and used in emergencies, per the register.

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. Available during emergencies; none of the sources reviewed says the public may climb it. Ask the Forest Service before planning a visit.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Staffed only in emergencies (as of 2012)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 live-in cab, 14 by 14 feet, on a 41-foot treated timber towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1953
Height
41 ft (12.5 m)
Elevation
6,872 ft (2,095 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Gallatin National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Gallatin County, Montana
Coordinates
44.75110, −111.19680 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-horse-butte

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 4.0 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. 1930 EventCrow's nest platform in a tree; about 1930 per firelookout.com and Montana Lookouts, 1920s per the registerSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, montanalookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1930 and 1953
  3. 1953 BuiltCurrent L-4 tower on the site; replaced the crow's nestSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, montanalookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1953 and 2008
  5. 2008 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered June 18, 2008 as US 737Source: nhlr.org
  6. 2012 EventVolunteer crew removed wire fencing, reinforced steps, treated timbers, added side rails and new windowsSource: bozemandailychronicle.com
  7. 2012 RestoredRefurbishing was supported with the Forest Service for possible future staffing.Source: firelookout.org
  8. 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.

Horse Butte Lookout stands on a knob on a peninsula that juts into Hebgen Lake, about seven miles northwest of West Yellowstone in Gallatin County.1,2 The Gallatin National Forest looks after the tower.1,3

A crow's nest came first, though sources disagree on when.4,1,5,3 The National Historic Lookout Register says a platform went up in the 1920s.4 Montana Lookouts puts a crow's nest in a tree around 1930, and firelookout.com dates one to about 1930.5,1 A Gallatin National Forest fire manager, quoted by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, said a crow's nest platform went up in a Douglas fir at the tower's current location in the late 1920s.3 The current tower replaced that crow's nest in 1953.3

The live-in L-4 cab measures 14 by 14 feet and sits on a 41-foot treated timber tower.4,1 Montana Lookouts and the Chronicle give the height as 40 feet.5,2

Staffing is where the sources diverge. An October 2012 visit report on the register says the tower is staffed only sometimes, is used in emergencies, and that the district has a four-year plan to get the tower back to being a staffed lookout.4 A Chronicle feature whose date does not appear in the copy we read describes a lookout who manned the tower six days a week in fire season, and calls Horse Butte the only one of the forest's three fire towers that was regularly manned.2 A Chronicle article about a smokejumper project quotes a fire manager saying the tower is staffed during high fire danger, with an emergency firefighter brought in when lightning is heavy.3

In 2012 a volunteer crew removed wire fencing, reinforced the steps, treated the timbers, and added side rails and new windows.3 In a separate project, retired smokejumpers repainted the tower and built eight new shutters.3

The tower is still standing, and the Chronicle describes it as solid but in need of steady upkeep.2 The register lists it as US 737 and records its registration on June 18, 2008.4 The 2012 visit report also notes a Forest Service repeater in the tower.4 Firelookout.com describes the tower as available during emergencies.1 None of the sources reviewed says the public may climb it, so ask the Forest Service before planning a visit.

The sources also disagree on the summit's elevation. The register gives 6,872 feet, while firelookout.com and the Chronicle give 7,077 feet.4,1,3

  1. Horse Butte Fire Lookout Tower, Fire Lookout (firelookout.com), https://www.firelookout.com/mt/horsebutte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Lookout towers continue to provide needed service, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/lookout-towers-continue-to-provide-needed-service/article_3e26f8f3-eeb5-5e4c-96c8-81b2633adab6.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Veteran smokejumpers spruce up Horse Butte Lookout, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, https://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/veteran-smokejumpers-spruce-up-horse-butte-lookout/article_7b1c58bd-29f9-5251-a002-a74aaa70ebca.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Horse Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/horse-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Horse Butte, Forest Lookouts, Montana Lookouts, https://montanalookouts.weebly.com/horse-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Horse Butte Lookout
Horse Butte LookoutPhoto: Panoramio, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2021
2021 (2021)Photo: bbjeg, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Crow's Nest Tree Lookout nearby - 1963
Crow's Nest Tree Lookout nearby - 1963 (1963)Photo: W. E. Steuerwald, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Horse Butte in 1963
Horse Butte in 1963 (1963)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Gary Weber, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Horse Butte in 2000
Horse Butte in 2000 (2000)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Gary Weber, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Horse Butte in 2015
Horse Butte in 2015 (2015)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Gary Weber, and Luke Channer, 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the location by 2.2 km (1.4 mi).

    • FFLA: 44.75110, −111.19680
    • NHLR: 44.76650, −111.21430
    • Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports: 44.76650, −111.21430

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from FFLA.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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: location, 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: design, 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 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
  5. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: height 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, agency, access, staffing, 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.