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Fire lookout · Lincoln County, Montana

Mount Henry Lookout

A 1942 L-4 cab on a ten-foot log tower near Yaak, now used only in emergencies, with a 2026 assessment aiming at a major restoration.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Used only during emergencies. No visitor or rental information in the sources.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Staffed only in emergencies

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab (about 14 x 14 ft) with catwalk on a 10-foot log towerThe designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1925
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
7,146 ft (2,178 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Lincoln County, Montana
Coordinates
48.88286, −115.51825
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-mount-henry

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 4.1 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. 1910 EventCamp lookout established on the site (firelookout.com only)Source: firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1910 and 1925
  3. 1925 BuiltStone-and-frame cupola lookout built by the Kootenai National ForestSources: nhlr.org, nwmt-ffla.org, firelookout.com
  4. 1925 EventFirst lookout on the site: a stone-and-frame cupola lookout built by the Kootenai NF.Source: nwmt-ffla.org
  5. No record between 1925 and 1942
  6. 1942 BuiltPresent L-4 cab on a ten-foot log towerSources: nhlr.org, nwmt-ffla.org, firelookout.com
  7. 1942 Replaced by a new structureThe L-4 cab replaced the cupolaSources: nhlr.org, nwmt-ffla.org, mtmemory.org
  8. No record between 1942 and 1973
  9. 1973 AbandonedRegister and 2026 page date abandonment to 1973; the 2023 report says out of use since 1978Sources: nhlr.org, nwmt-ffla.org, firelookout.org
  10. 1983 RestoredRenovation of the unused lookout completed (Forest Lookouts page)Source: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1994 FireYaak-Red Dragon Complex Fire threatened the lookout; did not burn within half a mileSources: firelookout.com, montanalookouts.weebly.com
  12. 2000 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered May 12, 2000 as US 346, MT 28Source: nhlr.org
  13. 2006 RestoredRestoration work began.Source: firelookout.org
  14. 2016 Condition assessmentCondition assessment (August).Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  15. 2023 Condition assessmentVolunteer assessment: pretty good shape; needs a major paint job; outhouse propped upSource: firelookout.org
  16. 2026 Condition assessmentCondition assessment aimed at a major restoration in the coming yearsSource: nwmt-ffla.org
  17. Date unknown RestoredPartly restored in the 1990s.Source: nwmt-ffla.org
  18. 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.

Mount Henry Lookout stands about ten miles northeast of Yaak, in the Kootenai National Forest in Lincoln County, Montana.1,2 The sources give the summit's elevation differently: the register says 7,146 feet, firelookout.com says 7,243 feet, and the Montana History Portal says 7,257 feet.3,2,4

The register and the Montana History Portal start the account in 1925, when the Kootenai National Forest built a stone-and-frame cupola lookout on the peak.3,4 Firelookout.com also says a camp lookout was established on the spot in 1910, before the cupola went up.2 The present lookout dates to 1942. It is an L-4 cab, about 14 feet square, with a catwalk, set on a ten-foot log tower that replaced the cupola.3,1,5

The register says the lookout was abandoned in 1973 and later reactivated because beetle infestations had raised the fire danger.3 The Northwest Montana association's 2023 year-end report instead says it has been out of use since 1978.6 The two dates disagree, and the sources do not settle which is right. Some sources also differ on repairs. The register and the Montana History Portal say it was partly restored in the 1990s.3,4 Firelookout.com says the legs and shutter supports were rebuilt in the late 1980s, and a Forest Lookouts page lists a renovation completed in 1983.2,5

In 1994 the Yaak-Red Dragon Complex threatened the lookout, though the fire did not burn within half a mile of it.5 Firelookout.com describes the tower as threatened by a forest fire that year.2

Today the lookout is used only during emergencies.1 Volunteers hiked up in 2023 to assess it.6 They found it in pretty good shape but in need of a major paint job, and the outhouse, knocked flat by the elements, had been shored up with rocks and boards.6 A 2026 condition assessment of the lookout points toward a significant restoration effort in the years ahead.1

None of the sources describes public visiting or rental. Because the lookout is used only in emergencies, the safe course is to admire it from a distance and not to climb it.

  1. 2026 Projects, Northwest Montana Lookout Association, https://nwmt-ffla.org/2026/03/07/2026-projects/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Mt. Henry Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/mthenry.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Mount Henry Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/mount-henry-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Mount Henry, Montana History Portal, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/128563 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Mount Henry - Forest Lookouts, Montana Lookouts, https://montanalookouts.weebly.com/mount-henry.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. 2023 Year-End Report, Northwest Montana Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-mt-nw-2023.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount Henry Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mt. Henry L.O.
Mt. Henry L.OPhoto: Gary Weber and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Mt. Henry in 2018
Mt. Henry in 2018 (2018)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, 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. Northwest Montana Lookout Association Gave us: staffing, dates, links Northwest Montana Lookout Association (nwmt-ffla.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, dimensions, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the NMLA page or PDF it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR and FFLA records (NMLA publishes none). · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, agency, access, 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.