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Fire lookout · Lincoln County, Montana

Quartz Peak Lookout

60-foot steel tower on Quartz Peak in Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, Montana; cabin burned 1954, tower abandoned after the late 1960s, now reached by a 5-mile trail.

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?
No, you have to hike
Trail
The road to the summit is gone; a July 2026 trip report describes a 5-mile foot trail with about 800 feet of climbing
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower60-foot steel tower, built in 1935 after a cabin was begun in 1934; the cabin burned in 1954
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
6,251 ft (1,905 m)
Agency
US Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Lincoln County, Montana
Coordinates
48.54225, −115.70016
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-quartz-peak

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1934 BuiltCabin begun on the summit; the first structureSources: nhlr.org, adventuretaco.com
  2. 1935 BuiltPresent 60-foot steel tower completedSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, adventuretaco.com
  3. No record between 1935 and 1954
  4. 1954 BurnedThe cabin burned down; the tower was not destroyedSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, adventuretaco.com
  5. 1968 AbandonedTower in use until the late 1960s, abandoned since. Sources say only 'late 1960s', so 1968 is an approximate yearSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, adventuretaco.com
  6. No record between 1968 and 2021
  7. 2021 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 9, 2021 as US 1509, MT 87; nominated by Kyle StetlerSource: nhlr.org
  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.

Quartz Peak Lookout sits in the Kootenai National Forest, about 12 miles northwest of Libby in Lincoln County, Montana.1,2 The first structure on the summit was a cabin, begun in 1934.1,3 A steel tower about 60 feet tall went up the following year, in 1935.1,3

Sources give slightly different summit heights. The National Historic Lookout Register lists the site at 6,251 feet, while firelookout.com lists 6,255 feet.1,2

The cabin did not last. A fire in 1954 burned it down, but the tower kept operating after that.1,3 The tower stayed in use until the late 1960s, and it has been abandoned since then.1,3 The sources read do not name anyone who staffed it or any fire it spotted during those years.

The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Montana list still shows the tower as standing.4

The road that once reached the summit is gone.3 A July 2026 trip report describes a 5-mile foot trail with about 800 feet of climbing in its place.3 The sources do not say whether the public may enter or climb the tower, and none mention renting this one. Anyone planning a trip should check with the Kootenai National Forest first.

The Register added the lookout on January 9, 2021, as US 1509, MT 87.1 Kyle Stetler nominated it.1

  1. Quartz Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/quartz-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Quartz Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/quartzpk.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Libby to Canada - Land of the Lookouts, MTBDR #8, AdventureTaco, https://adventuretaco.com/libby-to-canada-land-of-the-lookouts-mtbdr-8/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Montana Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/mt/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Quartz Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Quartz Peak L.O.
Quartz Peak L.OPhoto: Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source

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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: 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, 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.