FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Sanders County, Montana

Star Peak Lookout

Also known as Squaw Peak (Star Peak), Squaw Peak (Star Mtn.), Squaw Peak

Montana's oldest lookout site (tent camp 1907, stone cabin 1910), topped since 1952 by the present L-4 cab, still the only active lookout on the Cabinet Ranger District.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Reached via Big Eddy Trail #998; firelookout.com describes the lookout as available for emergencies rather than a standard rental

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Big Eddy Trail #998, about 10 miles northwest of Noxon, Sanders County; trailhead/ending elevation 6,167 ft
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab on a stone baseThe design: L-4
Built of
Stone
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,014 ft (1,833 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Sanders County, Montana
Coordinates
48.09280, −115.92696
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-mt-star-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.

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. 1907 BuiltSource: firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page
  2. 1907 First staffedFirst recorded Montana lookout; a tent camp just below the Star/Squaw Peak summit on the then Cabinet National ForestSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1910 BuiltStone cabin built below the summit by ranger Granville "Granny" Gordon and wife Pauline; still standingSource: firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1910 and 1930
  5. 1930 BuiltFirst L-4 cab, gable-roof model, built on the summitSource: firelookout.com
  6. 1933 StaffedStaffed by Wag Dodge, later the foreman of the Mann Gulch fire.Source: nwmt-ffla.org
  7. No record between 1933 and 1952
  8. 1952 Replaced by a new structurePresent L-4 cab on a stone base built, replacing the 1930 structure; remains the only active lookout on the Cabinet Ranger DistrictSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  9. 1959 StaffedTommy RichardsSource: firelookout.com
  10. 1967 StaffedMary HarkerSource: firelookout.com
  11. No record between 1967 and 1996
  12. 1996 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered August 20, 1996 as US 178, nominated by Gary Weber, FFLASource: nhlr.org
  13. 2003 Last staffedStaffed and maintained until 2003.Source: nwmt-ffla.org
  14. 2004 EventPeak renamed from Squaw Peak to Star Peak/Star MountainSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  15. No record between 2004 and 2022
  16. 2022 Condition assessmentAssessment to document restoration needs for the Cabinet District.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  17. 2023 RestoredWindows flown out; re-roofed with cedar shingles and the exterior scraped and painted, with Great American Outdoors Act funding.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.org
  18. 2024 RestoredWindows restored at spring workshops and helicoptered back in June; new shutters, interior and exterior painted, leaving it in restored condition.Sources: nwmt-ffla.org, nwmt-ffla.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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Star Peak holds the oldest lookout post in Montana: in 1907, a lookout on the then-Cabinet National Forest pitched a tent just below the summit, the earliest recorded lookout post anywhere in the state.1,2 The peak looks out over the Scotchman Peaks area, the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, and the Clark Fork Valley.3 Three years later, in 1910, Noxon's first ranger, Granville "Granny" Gordon, and his wife Pauline put up a stone cabin near the talus slope below the peak, and that cabin is still standing.2

A proper lookout structure came later. The first L-4 cab, with a gable roof, went up on the summit in 1930; the present L-4 cab on a stone base replaced it in 1952.1,2 That 1952 cab is the one still in service, and today it's the only active lookout on the Kootenai National Forest's Cabinet Ranger District.1 A Forest Service trailhead page describes the current lookout as dating to 1910, which doesn't match the 1952 date given by the National Historic Lookout Register and firelookout.com; the 1910 date more likely belongs to the surviving stone cabin below the summit rather than the lookout cab itself.3

Known staff include Tommy Richards in 1959 and Mary Harker in 1967.2 The peak carried the name Squaw Peak for most of its history and was renamed Star Peak (or Star Mountain) in 2004.1,2 It was added to the National Historic Lookout Register in 1996 as US 178, nominated by Gary Weber of the Forest Fire Lookout Association.1

Star Peak is reached by the Big Eddy Trail, with the trailhead ending around 6,167 feet.3 It lies about ten miles northwest of Noxon, in Sanders County.2 firelookout.com describes the lookout as available for emergencies, suggesting it isn't a standard overnight rental but is kept usable as shelter.2 No source consulted confirms a public booking program for Star Peak.

  1. Star Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/mt/star-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Squaw Peak (Star Mtn.) Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/mt/squawpk.html (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. #998 Big Eddy Trailhead, Kootenai National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r01/kootenai/recreation/998-big-eddy-trailhead (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Photo of Star Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Star Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Star Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Star Peak Lookout
Photo: Dave Kresek, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Star Peak Lookout
Photo: Dave Kresek, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Squaw Peak in 1938
Squaw Peak in 1938 (1938)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Gary Weber and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Squaw Peak L.O.
Squaw Peak L.OPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum, Gary Weber and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Squaw Peak in 1998
Squaw Peak in 1998 (1998)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Gary Weber and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Squaw Peak in 2016
Squaw Peak in 2016 (2016)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Gary Weber and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Squaw Peak in 2016
Squaw Peak in 2016 (2016)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Gary Weber and Luke Channer, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Star Peak Lookout
Photo: NoeHill, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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: 1907
    • Northwest Montana Lookout Association: 1910

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

  • Sources disagree on the registers.

    • NHLR: US 178
    • OpenStreetMap: US 178;MT 17

    Another source gives a different NHLR number; the register's own entry is used.

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. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page 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
  5. 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
  6. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: photos, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  7. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  8. 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
  9. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, 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.