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Fire lookout · Flathead County, Montana

Spotted Bear Mountain Lookout

Also known as Spotted Bear Lookout

A Flathead National Forest fire tower with a 1916 log cabin, a 1960s helicopter-built replacement, and a 2015 Bear Creek fire evacuation; staffed each summer.

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. Active Forest Service tower, staffed in summer. Sources do not say whether visitors may climb the tower.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Older Forest Service station description quoted on a lookout-history site: about 8 miles southeast from the Spotted Bear Ranger Station, mostly uphill. Verify the current route.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower20-ft treated timber R-6 tower; earlier two-story 13x13 ft log cabin (1916)The design: R-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1914
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
7,228 ft (2,203 m)
Agency
US Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Flathead County, Montana
Coordinates
47.90395, −113.44065
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-spotted-bear-mountain

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 4.3 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. 1914 BuiltForest History Society timeline: lookout constructed on Spotted Bear Mountain. Not corroborated by the register or firelookout.com.Source: foresthistory.org
  2. 1916 BuiltFirst lookout established with a 2-story 13x13 log cabin (register and firelookout.com)Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, montanalookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1916 EventFirst lookout on the site: a two-story log structure (the 2014 report says 1914).Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  4. No record between 1916 and 1933
  5. 1933 Replaced by a new structureForest History Society timeline says the 1914 lookout was replaced in 1933. Not corroborated by the other sources.Source: foresthistory.org
  6. 1936 StaffedJuly 1936 smoke from the station turned out to be no fire; a lookout was posted thereSource: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1936 and 1961
  8. 1961 EventOctober 1961 helicopter lift of a dismantled tower and cabin to replace a tower rated unsafe (newspaper)Source: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1963 BuiltPresent 20-ft R-6 tower built, per the register and firelookout.com. A January 1962 newspaper item reports the helicopter material lift for it in October 1961.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, montanalookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1963 Replaced by a new structureThe present treated-timber R-6 tower replaced the earlier lookout.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  11. No record between 1963 and 2014
  12. 2014 RestoredFour volunteers, 160 hours in July: roof repair, soffits and windows painted, screen door, trap-door gate, shutters, stair treads.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  13. 2015 FireBear Creek fire: lookout wrapped in fire-resistant material on August 26; staff evacuated by helicopter on August 27Source: montanalookouts.weebly.com
  14. 2021 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered January 9, 2021 as US 1495Source: nhlr.org
  15. 2025 Condition assessmentAssessment: glazing, paint, flooring and the outhouse need work; two broken panes to replace, new panes delivered.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  16. 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.

Spotted Bear Mountain Lookout stands in the Flathead National Forest, about 4.5 miles air-line southeast of the Spotted Bear Ranger Station.1 The register says the first lookout there was a two-story log cabin, 13 by 13 feet, set up in 1916.2,3 A Forest History Society timeline gives an earlier date, 1914, for a lookout on the mountain, which it says was used until it was replaced in 1933.4 The two accounts do not reconcile.

The present tower is 20 feet tall, built of treated timber, and the register dates it to 1963.2,3,1 Newspaper items tell a longer story. A 1959 item mentions a 50-foot tower being built, while a 1961 item says a helicopter flew in a dismantled tower and cabin to replace one rated unsafe, and that the new tower would be 20 feet high.1 A January 1962 item calls the October helicopter lift the first helicopter project in the Flathead National Forest.1

A July 1936 newspaper item describes smoke from the station that turned out to be no fire, and a lookout there who asked a friend for pipe tobacco, saying it was lonely up there.1 The register says the tower is regularly staffed in summer.2

In August 2015, as the Bear Creek fire approached, the lookout was wrapped in fire-resistant material. The next day its staff were evacuated by helicopter.1 The register records its registration on 9 January 2021.2

Today the lookout is staffed in summer.2 An older Forest Service station description, quoted on a lookout-history site, puts the trail at about 8 miles southeast from the ranger station, mostly uphill.1 The sources do not say whether visitors may climb the tower, so check with the Spotted Bear Ranger District before planning a trip.

  1. Spotted Bear Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (montanalookouts.weebly.com), https://montanalookouts.weebly.com/spotted-bear-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Spotted Bear Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/spotted-bear-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Spotted Bear Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/spottedbear.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Yesterday & Today, The Flathead Story, Forest History Society, https://foresthistory.org/research-explore/us-forest-service-history/u-s-forest-service-publications/region-1-northern/the-flathead-story/table-of-contents/chapters/yesterday-today/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Spotted Bear Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Spotted Bear Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Spotted Bear in 2004
Spotted Bear in 2004 (2004)Photo: Dominic Luebbers and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Spotted Bear in 2021
Spotted Bear in 2021 (2021)Photo: Dominic Luebbers and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Spotted Bear in 2021
Spotted Bear in 2021 (2021)Photo: Dominic Luebbers 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, what it is built of, 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: 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: height, 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, 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.