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Fire lookout · Powell County, Montana

Jumbo Mountain Lookout

Also known as Jumbo Lookout

An R-6 flat cab built in 1957 to replace a 1937 L-4 cab, in the Bob Marshall Wilderness; semi-regularly staffed 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. Inside the Bob Marshall Wilderness; no source reviewed describes public visiting, overnight stays or rental. Check with the Spotted Bear Ranger District first.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabR-6 flat cab (built 1957), replacing an L-4 cab from 1937The designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1937
Height
255 ft (77.7 m)
Elevation
8,214 ft (2,504 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Flathead National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Powell County, Montana
Coordinates
47.39603, −113.16514
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-jumbo-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 4.0 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. 1937 BuiltL-4 cab, later replacedSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1937 and 1957
  3. 1957 BuiltSource: firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page
  4. 1957 Replaced by a new structureR-6 flat cab built to replace the 1937 L-4 cab; materials flown in from Missoula per a 1957 newspaper itemSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, 4powellcounty.blogspot.com
  5. No record between 1957 and 2001
  6. 2001 StaffedSemi-regularly staffed since 2001 per the register; firelookout.com names 2001 as a staffed yearSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  7. 2015 RestoredThree-day volunteer project with the Spotted Bear District: new privy hole and hitching rail, stone wall rebuilt, trim and shutters painted, roof patched.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  8. 2021 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 9, 2021 as US 1497Source: nhlr.org
  9. 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.

Jumbo Mountain Lookout stands in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, on the Flathead National Forest's Spotted Bear Ranger District in Powell County, about 21 miles northeast of Seeley Lake.1,2

An L-4 cab from 1937 stood there before the current one.1,2 A 1957 newspaper item, quoted on a Powell County history blog, says seven men were working on the new lookout that September, and that its materials were flown from Missoula to a landing field at Basin Creek and packed about five miles to the site.3 The blog gives the newspaper's date as both 1957 and 1954.3 The 1957 date fits the register, which says the current cab was built that year.1,3

That cab is an R-6 flat cab, built in 1957 to replace the L-4.1,2 It was used for emergencies into the 1970s.1,2

Staffing is described two ways. The register says the lookout has been semi-regularly staffed since 2001.1 Firelookout.com names 2001 only as a year it was staffed, with no schedule given.2 Neither source gives a staffing schedule.1,2

The register records the lookout as US 1497 and gives its registration date as January 9, 2021.1 Its elevation is listed as 8,214 feet on the register and 8,284 feet on firelookout.com.1,2

The lookout sits inside a wilderness area, and nothing in the sources reviewed shows that the public may visit it, stay overnight, or rent it. Anyone planning a trip should check with the Spotted Bear Ranger District first.1,2

  1. Jumbo Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/jumbo-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Jumbo Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, Fire Lookout (firelookout.com), https://www.firelookout.com/mt/jumbomtn.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Powell County Lookouts, blog, https://4powellcounty.blogspot.com/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Jumbo Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Jumbo Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Jumbo Mtn. L.O.
Jumbo Mtn. L.OPhoto: Gary Weber, 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, 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
  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. 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, 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, agency, access, 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.