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Fire lookout · Powell County, Montana

Morrell Lookout

Also known as Morrell Mountain

1921 log-cabin lookout on Morrell Mountain near Seeley Lake, replaced in 1962 by an R-6 cab; NHLR-registered 1996 and still a Lolo NF repeater site.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

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

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Two-story buildingR-6 flattop cab with catwalk, about 15 by 15 ft, on a 10 ft concrete block base (1962 replacement)The designs: R-6, Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1921
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
7,700 ft (2,347 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Lolo National Forest (Seeley Lake Ranger District)
Land
Federal land
Location
Powell County, Montana
Coordinates
47.18936, −113.35745 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-morrell

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 4.4 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 Builtfirst lookout was a 12 by 12 ft log cabin with cupola; newspaper notices suggest the station was still being built in 1921 and was completed by 1922Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, montanalookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1921 and 1962
  3. 1962 BuiltSource: firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page
  4. 1962 Replaced by a new structurecabin replaced by a 15 by 15 ft R-6 flattop cab on a 10 ft concrete block baseSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1962 and 1996
  6. 1996 Added to the National Historic Lookout Registerregistered February 26, 1996 as US 164, MT 11Source: 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Morrell Mountain stands in the Lolo National Forest, about six miles east of Seeley Lake in Powell County, Montana.1,2 A survey station description on the Forest Lookouts page places the site about five miles east of the lake, so the sources disagree on the distance.3

The first lookout was a log cabin with a cupola, and the Register dates it to 1921.2 Firelookout.com gives the same year.1 Newspaper notices quoted on the Forest Lookouts page describe a combined ranger station and tower being built in 1921, and a new lookout station completed by August 1922.3 The sources only partly agree on the build date: the Register and firelookout.com give 1921, while the newspapers suggest the work ran on into 1922.2,1,3 The cabin looked toward the Mission Mountains and the timberland to the south.2

In 1962 the cabin was replaced with a 15-by-15-foot R-6 flattop cab with a catwalk, on a concrete block base about 10 feet tall.2,1 The Register places the first lookout atop the mountain, while firelookout.com says the present tower stands one mile south of the summit.2,1

The Register describes it as the principal lookout for the Seeley Lake Ranger District, and says it has served as a radio repeater during nearby large fires when necessary.2 Firelookout.com says the Lolo National Forest and Montana's Department of Natural Resources and Conservation staff it cooperatively, though that page carries no date.1 None of the sources names a particular fire.

The Register lists the lookout as US 164, MT 11, with a registration date of February 26, 1996.2 It is still standing.2,1 The Register also says the site was once used for a state radio relay, and that the Lolo National Forest now uses the site for repeater and relay work.2

The sources read do not say whether the public may visit or climb the tower. The Register says volunteer maintenance help may be possible, and notes that Seeley Lake Ranger District crews typically do the upkeep, though fire activity can keep them away.2 Anyone planning a trip should check with that ranger district first.

  1. Morrell Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/morrell.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Morrell Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/morrell-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Morrell Mountain, Forest Lookouts (montanalookouts.weebly.com), https://montanalookouts.weebly.com/morrell-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Morrell Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Morrell Mtn. in 1922
Morrell Mtn. in 1922 (1922)Photo: the National Archives and Records Administration, Gary Weber, and Gary Marin, via firelookout.com · source
Morrell Mtn. in 1997
Morrell Mtn. in 1997 (1997)Photo: the National Archives and Records Administration, Gary Weber, and Gary Marin, via firelookout.com · source
Morrell Mtn. L.O.
Morrell Mtn. L.OPhoto: the National Archives and Records Administration, Gary Weber, and Gary Marin, 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 1.7 km (1.1 mi).

    • NHLR: 47.18936, −113.35745
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 47.20494, −113.35563

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

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, 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. 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, 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.