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Fire lookout · Meagher County, Montana

Monument Peak Lookout

CCC-built 1936 L-4 lookout in Lewis & Clark National Forest, lowered off its pole in 1999 and rebuilt on a ground foundation as a seasonal rental.

Visit & stay

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

Getting there
A high clearance vehicle is recommended, as the 2 miles of road leading up to the cabin are rough and rocky.

Overview Monument Peak Lookout offers guests an impressive yet rustic room with a view. The lookout, built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps, is perched atop Monument Peak, boasting spectacular 360 degree views of the Little Belt Mountains. The lookout was once used to spot forest fires but was left unused since the 1970s. In 1999, the lookout was removed from its 50 foot pole, restored and placed on a short, solid foundation for public rental use. A high clearance vehicle is recommended, as the 2 miles of road leading up to the cabin are rough and rocky. During wet conditions the entie road may be muddy and often times slippery. The Lookout/Cabin is avaialble for rental between June 1 and Novemebr 30 and is closed for the remainder of the year . Recreation Small and big game hunting is popular in the area. Hiking, OHVing and wildlife viewing are also enjoyed. Facilities The rustic lookout has two beds with mattresses, two propane lanterns, a table and chairs and a propane cooking stove. Pots, pans, dishes and utensils are included but are limited. A vault toilet is about 100 feet from the structure. No water, electricity or plumbing is available. Recommended items to bring include drinking water, bedding, flashlights, food, small propane canisters, firewood, matches and a cooler. ( Click here ) for more cabin details. Natural Features The lookout sits at 7,395 feet in elevation, offering views of Monument Ridge and Strawberry Ridge. The surrounding region is a dense coniferous forest with fir, spruce and pine trees. Lewis and Clark National Forest has many miles of streams and fishing opportunities. Native wildlife includes black bears, mule-deer, white-tailed deer, elk, bald eagles, mountain lions and other species.

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. seasonal rental via recreation.gov, June 1 - November 30; high-clearance vehicle recommended for final 2 miles

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
2 miles of rough, rocky road; muddy/slippery when wet
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab, 14x14 ft, originally on a 50-foot pole tower with catwalk; now on a short ground foundationThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1936
Height
50 ft (15.2 m)
Elevation
7,315 ft (2,230 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service - Lewis & Clark National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Meagher County, Montana
Coordinates
46.99668, −111.09470
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 19 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-monument-peak

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 3.8 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 Builtbuilt by the Civilian Conservation Corps as an L-4 cab on a 50-foot pole towerSources: nhlr.org, recreation.gov
  2. No record between 1936 and 1999
  3. 1999 Movedcab removed from the pole tower after becoming unstable and placed on the ground for restorationSources: nhlr.org, recreation.gov
  4. 2003 RestoredAnother Passport in Time volunteer project continued restoration work at the lookout.Source: firelookout.org
  5. 2005 Added to the National Historic Lookout Registerregistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, July 31, 2005Source: nhlr.org
  6. 2005 Restoredrededicated in July 2005 and placed in the recreation rental program as a ground facilitySource: nhlr.org
  7. 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.

Monument Peak Lookout went up in 1936, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps on the summit of Monument Peak in what is now the Lewis & Clark National Forest.1,2 It was a 14-by-14-foot L-4 cab — one of the Forest Service's standard lookout cabin designs — set on a 50-foot pole tower, with a catwalk running around the outside.1 Firelookout.com describes it as the only example of that particular pole-tower type left standing in Montana.3

The lookout served its fire-spotting purpose for decades. Sources differ slightly on when staffing ended: the National Historic Lookout Register says the lookout remained active until 1999, when it became structurally unstable, while the Forest Service's own recreation.gov listing says it had already sat unused since the 1970s.1,2 Either way, by 1999 the cab had been taken down off its tall pole and placed on the ground for restoration.1,2,3

Rather than restoring the tower to its original height, the Forest Service rebuilt the cab on a short, solid foundation, keeping the structure at ground level. The restored lookout was rededicated in July 2005 and entered into the Forest Service's recreation rental program as a ground facility.1 It was added to the National Historic Lookout Register that same year.

Today Monument Peak Lookout is rented out seasonally, from June 1 through November 30, through recreation.gov.2 Getting there takes a high-clearance vehicle, since the final two miles of road are rough and rocky and can turn muddy and slick in wet weather.2 Inside, the rustic cabin has two beds, a propane stove and lanterns, and a table and chairs; there's no running water, electricity, or plumbing, and a vault toilet sits about 100 feet away.2 The cabin sleeps two, though up to two tents are permitted at the site for additional guests, for a six-person limit overall.2

  1. Monument Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/monument-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Monument Peak Lookout, Recreation.gov, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234428 (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Monument Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/monumentpk.html (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Photo of Monument Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Monument Peak in 1996
Monument Peak in 1996 (1996)Photo: Gary Weber and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Monument Peak in 2017
Monument Peak in 2017 (2017)Photo: Gary Weber and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Monument Peak in 2017
Monument Peak in 2017 (2017)Photo: 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.

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 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: 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
  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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · 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, 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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