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Fire lookout · Granite County, Montana

Mount Emerine Lookout Site

Granite Co., MT site on Deerlodge NF: 1920s platform tower and cabin, 1932 L-4 tower, 1964 R-6 tower since removed; the log cabin remains.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The 1964 tower has been removed. Both sources say the 1920s log cabin remains, but neither dates that report, and a 1931 newspaper says lightning completely destroyed the lookout station that June.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

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

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower20-foot treated timber R-6 flat tower (1964), since removed; earlier 20-foot pole L-4 tower (1932)The designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1920
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
8,616 ft (2,626 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Deerlodge National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Granite County, Montana
Coordinates
46.20027, −113.63893 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-mount-emerine

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its 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.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

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. 1917 StaffedNewspaper account: a woman took the post after a man quit, and watched through the summerSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1920 BuiltPole platform tower with a log cabin; both sources date it to the 1920s without an exact year. A 1917 newspaper already describes a lookout station on the peak, so this tower was not the first.Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1922 EventLightning destroyed 1,500 feet of telephone line leading to the lookout stationSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1931 DestroyedJune 1931: lightning struck a pack train on the slopes; the newspaper says the lookout station the men had just left was completely destroyed by the same boltSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1932 BuiltSource: firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page
  6. 1932 Replaced by a new structureA 20-foot pole L-4 tower replaced the 1920s platform tower and cabinSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. No record between 1932 and 1961
  8. 1961 StaffedJerry Churchwell served as a lookout in the summers of 1961-64Source: firetower.org
  9. 1964 Replaced by a new structure20-foot treated timber R-6 flat tower built by Driggs Construction of Anaconda, MTSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. No record between 1964 and 2011
  11. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 23, 2011 as US 827, MT 1; nominated by Luke ChannerSource: firetower.org
  12. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Mount Emerine sits at 8,616 feet in Granite County, Montana, in the Deerlodge National Forest.1,2 Both sources date a pole platform tower with a log cabin to the 1920s, and a 20-foot pole L-4 tower replaced it in 1932.1,2

Sources disagree on how far the site is from Philipsburg. Newspapers gave 22 miles in 1917, 25 miles in 1922 and about 18 miles in 1931, while firelookout.com gives 19 miles to the southwest.3,2

A 1917 newspaper account already describes a lookout station on the peak, so the 1920s tower was not the first lookout there. In that account, a man posted there grew so lonely that he quit, and a woman took the job. She watched through the summer with her two dogs as protectors.3 In 1922, lightning destroyed 1,500 feet of telephone line leading to the lookout station.3 Jerry Churchwell served as a lookout on the tower during the summers from 1961 to 1964.1

Driggs Construction of Anaconda, Montana, built a 20-foot treated timber R-6 flat tower in 1964.1 Both sources say that tower has since been removed and the log cabin remains, but neither dates that report.1,2 A 1931 newspaper says lightning completely destroyed the lookout station that June.3

  1. Mount Emerine Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/mt/mount-emerine-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mt. Emerine Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/emerine.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mount Emerine, Montana Lookouts, quoting Montana newspapers of 1917, 1922 and 1931, https://montanalookouts.weebly.com/mount-emerine.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount Emerine Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Present day view of site
Present day view of sitePhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Present day view of site
Present day view of sitePhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1971 photo
1971 photo (1971)Photo: Lawrence Smith, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mt. Emerine in the 1920s
Mt. Emerine in the 1920s (1920)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum, Lawrence Smith, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Mt. Emerine in 1933
Mt. Emerine in 1933 (1933)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum, Lawrence Smith, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Mt. Emerine in the 1930s
Mt. Emerine in the 1930s (1930)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum, Lawrence Smith, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Mt. Emerine in the 1940s
Mt. Emerine in the 1940s (1940)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum, Lawrence Smith, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Mt. Emerine in 1971
Mt. Emerine in 1971 (1971)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum, Lawrence Smith, and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Mt. Emerine in 2008
Mt. Emerine in 2008 (2008)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum, Lawrence Smith, 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 1.5 km (0.9 mi).

    • FFLOS: 46.20027, −113.63893
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 46.18770, −113.63369

    The map uses the position from FFLOS.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Standing

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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: 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

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