Big Hole Lookout (MT)
1Heads up1 fire 35 mi away
- Right now
- Nobody has saidNo season, no closure, no bookings to read
- Sites
- 1All of them booked ahead
The place
the agency’s own description · what’s there · 9 notices
In the agency’s own words
The Big Hole Lookout offers guests an opportunity to experience an old-time Forest Service lookout. The tower commands an impressive 360 degree view of valleys and mountain ranges for miles and miles. The structure is small and is not elevated like many other lookouts, and is available for rent from June to early October each year. 2021 is the first year the lookout will be available to the public to rent. We are excited to offer this new, unique opportunity on the Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District. The lookout can be accessed on the Big Hole Lookout Trail by foot, horse or bicycle for 3 miles, one way, on a easy to moderate trail. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety, and must bring several of their own amenities. From Plains, Montana plan on at least a 60 - 90 minute drive to the Big Hole Lookout Trailhead on a steep and winding road. Keep reading
Recreation
Big Hole Lookout has an amazing 360 degree view of several mountain peaks and ranges. Various non-motorized trails link to the site allowing renters to hike, bike, or ride for several miles. The area is popular for wildlife viewing, star gazing, and enjoying the piece and quiet of the backcountry.
Facilities
The 14-by-14 structure is small, but can accommodate up to four people. There is a twin bed for with a mattress pad, two cots, a table with two chairs, and a wood stove. No other furnishings are provided. A rustic outhouse with a vault toilet is available about 200 feet from the lookout. Guests will need to bring water for drinking, cooking and cleaning purposes, as well as their own bedding and cots for additional sleeping options, cooking and eating equipment and fuel, cooking and eating utensils, flashlights, matches and toilet paper, among other necessities. There is no water available at the site, however, 3/4 mile downhill of the lookout is a spring with non-potable water. There is room plenty of room outside the tower for tents or stock animals. Guests should be prepared for cold and often wet or damp weather, even if the weather in the valley is warm and dry. Food, garbage and other waste needs to be put away at all times to avoid attracting bears. Firewood may be collected locally for the wood stove.
Natural Features
Big Hole Peak Lookout was built for what was originally the Cabinet National Forest in 1930. It is a ‘Grange Hall’ type lookout; 14 feet square with four courses of large logs atop a short talus foundation. This type of lookout predates the standard L-4 design, and due to the difficulty in its construction, is quite rare. In fact Big Hole Peak Lookout is one of only two remaining intact lookouts of this kind on the Lolo National Forest. It was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for the Lookouts on the Lolo Project. The site has not been used for fire detection purposes since 1972. The 2 million-acre forest includes four wilderness areas and a wide variety of trees, plants and wildlife. The area is home to mountain goats, bighorn sheep, elk, moose, deer and grizzly and black bears (learn more about bear safety). Both the bald and golden eagle reside in the forest, along with trumpeter swan, herons and dozens of varieties of ducks. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (406) 210-5287.
What the agency tells you
Guests must hike, ride a horse, or bicycle 3 miles from the parking area to the lookout.
This facility is located in a remote area; before making a reservation, become aware of bear, water, and weather safety.
All garbage, food and personal belongings must be packed out.
Everything else this campground posts · 6
Water is not available on-site. There is a spring 3/4 mile downhill from the lookout with non-potable water.
The lookout remains locked; a key code will be sent to you in your reservation confirmation.
Maximum stay limit is 3 nights per reservation.
Learn more about the Lolo National Forest at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/lolo
Don't Move Firewood: Prevent the spread of tree-killing pests by obtaining firewood near your destination and burning it on-site. For more information visit dontmovefirewood.org.
There is some cell service at the lookout.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- None
- Accessible sites
- None listed
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…are provided. A rustic outhouse with a vault toilet is available about 200 feet from the lookout.…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…from the lookout. Guests will need to bring water for drinking, cooking and cleaning purposes, as…”
- Firewood
- Mentioned
Around the campground
- Backpacking
- Berry Picking
- Birding
- Fire Lookouts/Cabins Overnight
- Hiking
- Historic site
- Horse Camping
- Horseback riding
- Hunting
- Lookout Tower
- Mountain biking
- Stargazing
- Wildlife viewing
No reading yet, book on recreation.gov
Every site here is reservable, and the record lists none held back for anyone who drives up.
No availability snapshot inside the last 36 hours, so this page draws nothing rather than ageing a reading into fiction.
Watch for a cancellation
Full? Watch it.
One email when a night opens, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We read recreation.gov once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time a site in your window is free for the nights you asked for.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
Tell me when the season opens
Watch for the season to open
One email when the season goes on sale, plus More Than Just Parks dispatches. Unsubscribe any time.
We check once an hour, at 40 minutes past, and write the first time the agency has that season on sale.
Scanners that check every few minutes exist, and most of them charge. This one is free, it reads the same calendar, and it won’t always be first.
We make nothing when you book. The link goes straight to the government.
Every line of the receipt · 12
What you actually pay
Who keeps the booking fee
The agency’s own policy text says the reservation fee and the cancellation processing fee are “retained by the reservation service contractor”, and that a campground concessionaire will decline to refund them because “they did not receive these fees”. Recreation.gov is run under contract by Booz Allen Hamilton. What share of your booking fee the contractor keeps isn’t published in any federal dataset we can read, so we print no number for it. Our reporting on the contract →
How we know this receipt · 5
rules read Sep 9, 2026 · rates Oct 1, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites
All 1 sites
The price is derived by CAMPANAC, not published per site: the per-night rate this campground publishes for each site’s own site type. 1 of the 1 sites listed carry one, and a site whose type has no published rate sits out of the price rather than being called free.
| Big Hole Lookout | Big Hole Lookout | lookout | $45 |
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Cougar Peak LookoutLolo National Forest · 18 mi
Cabin City Campground (MT)Lolo National Forest · 18 miFrom Plains, Montana travel northwest on Highway 200 for approximately 7.5 miles to Weeksville Creek Road (FR 887). From Thompson Falls, Montana travel southeast on Highway 200 for approximately 17.5 miles to Weeksville Creek Road (FR 887). Turn north onto Weeksville Creek Road (FR 887) and travel approximately 3 miles to Big Hole Road (FR 5587) and turn left. Travel the Big Hole Road for approximately 17.5 miles to the Big Hole Trailhead.
The weather
the next four days · the thirty-year normal
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Weeksville, MT
Typical weather
Typical October night 32°F, day 44°F.
Coldest month of the year: typical December night 18°F, below freezing. Bring a bag rated colder than that, and expect ice in the water bottle.
Daily high and lowDays with 0.10 in or more
A normal is the 1991-2020 average for the month, not a forecast: about half of all Julys are colder than the July line. The seven-day forecast above answers the other question.
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
Roadless country, and what’s coming for it
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Big Hole Lookout (MT) is in Montana’s 1st congressional district. Its representative, Ryan Zinke (R), votes on the laws that decide what happens to this land. Public-lands grade so far: F. See every public-lands vote →