FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Flathead County, Montana

Mud Lake Lookout

Also known as Mud Lake Mountain

Mud Lake Lookout in the Bob Marshall Wilderness: a 1932 L-4 cab, abandoned in 1972, restored by volunteers by 2020 and assessed again in 2025.

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. Abandoned in 1972; no rental or public visiting program found. Reached on foot through the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
About 2.5 miles one way on foot, with blowdown and a ford to cross (2025 crew report).
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 1972)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-4The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,335 ft (1,931 m)
Agency
US Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Flathead County, Montana
Coordinates
47.64233, −113.31392
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-mud-lake

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 3.9 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 EventSite established with a camp.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1932 BuiltGable-roofed L-4 cab built; the register says it keeps the original gabled roof.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  3. No record between 1932 and 1957
  4. 1957 Staffedfirelookout.com lists known lookout personnel for 1957.Source: firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1957 and 1972
  6. 1972 AbandonedLookout abandoned.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  7. No record between 1972 and 2000
  8. 2000 FireA forest fire threatened the lookout. The register does not say it burned.Source: nhlr.org
  9. No record between 2000 and 2015
  10. 2015 AlteredA wood stove was installed.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  11. 2015 RestoredVolunteer restoration began.Source: firelookout.org
  12. 2016 RestoredSecond phase: lookout levelled and squared on a new loose-stack rock foundation, windows removed for repair, radio repeater and solar panel moved off the building.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  13. 2017 RestoredThird phase: the failed west wall was rebuilt from the ground up on the new foundation.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  14. 2018 RestoredA badly damaged window replaced; windows on three sides reglazed, painted and reset.Source: nwmt-ffla.org
  15. 2020 RestoredVolunteer restoration completed in August, per the 2020 year-end report.Source: firelookout.org
  16. 2021 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered as NHLR US 1496 (MT 74) on January 9, 2021.Source: nhlr.org
  17. 2025 Condition assessmentFive-day backpacking assessment with no stock support; the crew also painted the window glazing.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  18. 2025 EventCrew assessment; the lookout is listed under assessments in the chapter's 2025 report.Source: firelookout.org
  19. 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.

Mud Lake Lookout sits in the Flathead National Forest, inside the Bob Marshall Wilderness, about 22 miles south-southeast of the Spotted Bear Ranger Station.1,2,3 The register lists it under the Spotted Bear Ranger District, and the US Forest Service administers it.1

The site was first set up with a camp in 1921. The L-4 cab, with its gabled roof, was completed in 1932.1,2 The register notes it keeps the original gabled roof rather than the later hipped roofs.1

The lookout was abandoned in 1972.1 The firelookout.com listing has a 1957 entry for known lookout personnel.2 In 2000 a forest fire threatened the lookout. The register also notes ongoing restoration work.1

Volunteers from the Northwest Montana Lookout Association began restoring it in 2015 and finished in August, according to their 2020 year-end report.3 The 2025 chapter report lists Mud Lake under assessments rather than projects. A crew walked in that year to assess it and packed in paint or stain for the windows.4

The walk is about 2.5 miles one way, with blowdown and a ford to cross, and the crew had no stock support.4

The latest status we found is an assessment. We found no rental or visiting program, so treat it as a remote wilderness structure rather than a place to climb.3,4

  1. Mud Lake Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/mud-lake-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Mud Lake Fire Lookout Cabin, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/mudlake.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Northwest Montana Lookout Association year-end report 2020, Firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-nw-mt-2020.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Year-end chapter report 2025, Firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/cr-idmt-nmla-2025.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mud Lake Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mud Lake Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mud Lake Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mud Lake in 1945
Mud Lake in 1945 (1945)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the Dave Bula collection and Steve Wirt, via firelookout.com · source
Mud Lake L.O.
Mud Lake L.OPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum, the Dave Bula collection and Steve Wirt, via firelookout.com · source
Mud Lake in 2000
Mud Lake in 2000 (2000)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the Dave Bula collection and Steve Wirt, 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 year it was built.

    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1932
    • OpenStreetMap: 1921
    • Northwest Montana Lookout Association: 1932

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

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, 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: 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 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, status, agency, access, staffing, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.