FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Sanders County, Montana

Patrick's Knob Lookout

1934 pole lookout replaced in 1976 by an R-6 cab on Patrick's Knob near Plains, Montana; NHLR-registered 2009; summer staffing reported in 2018.

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 on a 10 ft concrete base (1976); replaced a 20 ft pole tower with L-4 cab (1934)The designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
6,837 ft (2,084 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Lolo National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Sanders County, Montana
Coordinates
47.37222, −114.85889
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-patricks-knob

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. 1934 Builtfirst lookout, a 20 ft pole tower with L-4 cabSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, scledger.net
  2. No record between 1934 and 1968
  3. 1968 Destroyedfirelookout.com says destroyed in 1968 and replaced by a cupola trailer; the Register says the L-4 tower was condemned, with no date givenSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  4. 1976 BuiltR-6 flattop cab with catwalk on a 10 ft concrete base replaced the L-4 tower; described as 15 by 15 ft two-storySources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, scledger.net
  5. No record between 1976 and 2009
  6. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout Registerregistered April 24, 2009 as US 792, MT 49Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2018 StaffedForest Service and Youth Conservation Corps opened the station ahead of a summer lookout's watchSource: scledger.net
  8. 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.

Patrick's Knob stands in Sanders County, Montana, on the Lolo National Forest, south of the town of Plains.1,2 The sources disagree on how far south: firelookout.com says six miles, and a 2018 Sanders County Ledger article says about 15 miles.2,3

The Register says the knob takes its name from John W. Patrick, who came to the Plains valley in 1869 and later ran a ferry across the Clark Fork River.1

The first lookout was a 20-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab, built in 1934.2,3 The Register says that tower served until it was condemned.1 Firelookout.com says it was destroyed in 1968, after which a cupola trailer took its place.2 The Register describes a mobile lookout trailer used for a few years before the new tower was built.1,2

The present tower went up in 1976.1,2 The Register describes an R-6 flattop with a catwalk, built on a 10-foot concrete base, and the Ledger calls it a 15-by-15-foot, two-story tower.1,3

The Register says staffing continues regularly through fire season.1 Firelookout.com says it is staffed in summer.2 In June 2018 the Forest Service and a Youth Conservation Corps crew opened the station ahead of a summer watch, and the Ledger noted the lookout's elevation as 6,837 feet.3,2

The Register registered the lookout on April 24, 2009, as US 792, MT 49, and it is still in use.1,2 The sources do not say whether the public may climb the tower. The Register names the Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District as a cooperator, so that office is the place to ask before any visit.1

  1. Patrick's Knob Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/patricks-knob-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Patricks Knob Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/patricksknob.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Moreth, Ed, "Fire tower ready for season," Sanders County Ledger (scledger.net), https://scledger.net/story/2018/06/28/news/fire-tower-ready-for-season/1405.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Patrick's Knob Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Patricks Knob in 1967
Patricks Knob in 1967 (1967)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Patricks Knob in 1968
Patricks Knob in 1968 (1968)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Patricks Knob in 1997
Patricks Knob in 1997 (1997)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, 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, 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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