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Fire lookout · Sanders County, Montana

Mount Headley Lookout Site

Sanders Co., MT ground site on Lolo NF: camp 1907, cab 1914, cupola cabin 1928; cabin gone by 1965, debris below the summit sign (2010).

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The cabin is gone; a 2010 trip report saw debris just below the summit sign.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Reached on foot by trail; 2010 and 2015 trip reports describe hiking to the summit.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
About four miles on foot (2015 trip report); trail 528 leads to the top (2010 trip report).

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabCupola cabin (1928); earlier 11x11 ft frame and metal cab (1914)The design: Cupola house
Built of
Mixed
Built
1907
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,422 ft (2,262 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Lolo National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Sanders County, Montana
Coordinates
47.73989, −115.26372
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-mount-headley

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

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. 1907 BuiltForest Service built a camp at the siteSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1914 Built11x11 ft frame and metal cabSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1921 StaffedOscar Moen named as lookoutSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1928 BuiltCupola cabin added; the register's Built yearSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, montucky.wordpress.com
  5. 1929 StaffedFrank Benson named as lookoutSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1931 StaffedJoe Bown named as lookout; Les Anderson took his place while he was treatedSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1933 StaffedW.A. Kirby named as lookoutSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1935 ClosedDiscontinued as a lookout station in the Cabinet because of visual observation mapping on the forestSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1935 and 1954
  10. 1954 StaffedJames Law took up his station in the Headley lookoutSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1955 StaffedGeorge Gibbs posted on Headley peakSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  12. 1956 StaffedJohn Farris listed as a known lookoutSource: firelookout.com
  13. 1957 EventAnnounced in June 1957 that VHF radio would be used, for the first time, between the ranger's office and Headley and Cougar PeakSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  14. 1959 StaffedLarry Luke listed as a known lookoutSources: firelookout.com, montanalookouts.weebly.com
  15. 1965 AbandonedRegister says the site was deserted by 1965Source: firetower.org
  16. 1965 Destroyedfirelookout.com says the cabin was destroyed in 1965Source: firelookout.com
  17. No record between 1965 and 2015
  18. 2015 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered August 30, 2015 as US 1609, MT 5; nominated by Chad KinzelSource: firetower.org
  19. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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 Headley sits at about 7,400 feet in Sanders County, Montana, on land the Lolo National Forest manages.1,2 The Forest Service set up a camp at the site in 1907. A frame and metal cab followed in 1914, and a cupola cabin was added in 1928.1,2 The register gives 1928 as the build year, which is the year of that cupola cabin.1

Lookouts show up in local papers from the early 1920s. Oscar Moen was on the peak in 1921, and Frank Benson in 1929.3 In 1931 Joe Bown cut his foot, and Les Anderson took his place while Bown was treated.3 W.A. Kirby was there in 1933.3

In 1935 the forest dropped Headley as a lookout station, along with other peaks in the Cabinet, because of visual observation mapping on the forest.3 The post was staffed again in the 1950s. James Law took it in 1954 and George Gibbs in 1955.3 John Farris was there in 1956 and Larry Luke in 1959.2 In 1957 the ranger's office said VHF radio would be used with Headley and Cougar Peak, for the first time.3

The sources disagree about the end. The register says the site was deserted by 1965.1 Firelookout.com says the cabin was destroyed that year.2

The cabin is gone, but a 2010 trip report says some debris from it remains just below the summit sign.4 Hikers can reach the top on foot.4,5 A 2015 trip report describes a four-mile trail that climbs about 1,400 feet.5 The 2010 report reached the top by trail 528.4

  1. Mount Headley Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/mt/mount-headley-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mt. Headley Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/mtheadley.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mount Headley, Montana Lookouts, quoting the Sanders County Independent-Ledger, https://montanalookouts.weebly.com/mount-headley.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mt Headley (4), Montucky (Montana Outdoors blog), 2010, https://montucky.wordpress.com/2010/07/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. A visit to Mount Headley, Montucky (Montana Outdoors blog), 2015, https://montucky.wordpress.com/2015/10/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount Headley Lookout Site
Photo: Chad Kinzel, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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: 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, 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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