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Fire lookout · Lake County, Montana

Mission Lookout

Flathead National Forest lookout above Swan Lake, rebuilt in 1959 after earlier platform towers, now a Forest Service rental cabin.

Visit & stay

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

Sleeps
Up to 4 people
Fee
Mission Lookout is available for $45 a night for a maximum stay of seven consecutive nights. Within the maximum window (a rolling 6 month window), the maximum consecutive stay rule is 7 days and there is a Stay Beyond Maximum Window where customers can book past the 6 month rolling window if there is availability on the last day(s) of the maximum window.
Getting there
The tower can be accessed by vehicle.

Rules

  • No water or electricity on site

Overview Mission Lookout towers above the forest canopy, providing guests with unrivaled 360-degree views of the beautiful Swan Range, Mission Mountains and Swan Lake. The site served for 75 years as a fire detection tower, and the current lookout has been around since its construction in 1959. The tower can be accessed by vehicle. A parking area is adjacent to the facility. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. Will sleep up to 4 people. Dogs are NOT ALLOWED in the Lookout. Recreation Along with the spectacular scenery, the immediate area offers visitors an unlimited array of outdoor activities ranging from fishing and swimming at the nearby Swan Lake, to watching migratory waterfowl at the wildlife viewing area. Hunting is also popular not far from the lookout. Shooting within 150 yards of the Lookout or from/across roads is prohibited. A variety of hiking and mountain biking trails can be found in the area. Facilities The 15-by-15 facility sits atop a 40-foot tower. It is equipped with a built-in double bed and two folding cots, to accommodate up to four adults. The lookout also has a propane cooking stove, simple cooking utensils and a table with four chairs. A modern vault toilet, picnic area and fire ring are located at the base of the tower. No water or electricity is available. Guests should bring plenty of water, bedding, food, firewood, toiletries and a non-open flame light source, such as a battery-powered lantern, as candles are not allowed within the cabin. href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/flathead/recreation/camping-cabins/recarea/?recid=67022&actid=101">Click here for more cabin details. Natural Features At an elevation of approximately 3,700 feet, the cabin affords views of Flathead National Forest, including the Mission Mountains and Swan Lake. A variety of wildlife make its home in the area. Nearby Attractions The town of Swan Lake, about 15 minutes away, has a general store with limited groceries and a restaurant.

Book on recreation.gov

Rental details from recreation.gov, checked 12 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. drive-up to parking area, then climb tower stairs

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
parking area adjacent to tower; steep stairway to climb
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 flat cab, 41-foot treated timber towerThe design: R-6
Built of
Not recorded
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,700 ft (1,128 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Flathead National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Lake County, Montana
Coordinates
47.89391, −113.87450
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 12 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-mission

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 3.9 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. 1921 Built25-foot platform tower, the first lookout structure on the siteSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1930 Alteredcabin for living quarters and a newer 35-foot wooden platform added in the 1930sSource: nhlr.org
  3. No record between 1930 and 1959
  4. 1959 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  5. 1959 Replaced by a new structurecurrent 41-foot R-6 flat-cab treated timber tower builtSources: nhlr.org, recreation.gov
  6. No record between 1959 and 2020
  7. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout Registerregistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, December 30, 2020Source: nhlr.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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Mission Lookout sits above Swan Lake in the Flathead National Forest, watching over the Swan Valley and the Mission Mountains.1 The site's lookout history goes back nearly a century: a 25-foot platform tower went up in 1921, then a cabin and a taller 35-foot wooden platform followed in the 1930s.1 The structure standing today replaced those earlier ones in 1959 — a 41-foot treated-timber tower topped with an R-6 "flat cab," the standard Forest Service lookout design of its era.1,2

Lookout personnel recorded on the mountain include Ewing Micken in 1957 and Mr. and Mrs. Richard Beighle in 1958, both staffing the structure that preceded the current tower.3 A recreation.gov listing for the site notes that the location served as a fire detection post for about 75 years in total, spanning the platform era and the 1959 tower.2

The tower is still kept in reserve for emergency fire use, but its main role today is as a rental cabin through the Forest Service's recreation program.1,2 The National Historic Lookout Register lists it as US 1473, with Mission Lookout added to the register on December 30, 2020.1

Visitors can drive to a parking area at the base and climb the stairway to the 15-by-15-foot cab, which sleeps up to four people on a built-in double bed and two folding cots.2 There's a propane stove, a table, and a vault toilet at the base, but no running water or electricity, so guests need to bring their own water and supplies.2 Because of the height of the climb, the Forest Service discourages bringing children under 10.2 Grizzly bears are common in the area, and guests are asked to store food and garbage accordingly.2 Reservations go through recreation.gov, with the combination lock code sent in the booking confirmation.2

  1. Mission Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/mission-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Mission Lookout, Recreation.gov, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234360 (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Mission (Swan) Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/mission.html (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mission Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mission Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mission Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mission Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mission L.O. in the 1920s
Mission L.O. in the 1920s (1920)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Dave Bula collection, via firelookout.com · source
Mission L.O.
Mission L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service and Dave Bula collection, via firelookout.com · source
Mission L.O.
Mission L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service and Dave Bula collection, 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 year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1959
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1921

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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 12 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 12 Oct 2026
  5. 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
  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, 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

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