Thompson Peak Lookout Tower
2Heads up2 fires, nearest 31 mi
- 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 · 10 notices
In the agency’s own words
Thompson Peak Lookout provides great views of the Clark Fork Valley, the town of Superior, the Idaho state line and, of course, the big sky of Montana. It is close enough to Superior to allow for easy access, but remote enough to provide the quiet and solitude expected at a lookout. The modernized tower provides amenities not typical to a lookout, making it a desirable place to stay. Keep reading
Recreation
A variety of trails exist in the area, allowing visitors a chance to explore the surrounding forest. Wildlife spotting is also a popular activity. Most of all, visitors come to the tower to relax and enjoy the scenery.
Facilities
THE ONE-ROOM RENTAL CABIN IS EQUPPED WITH 1 TWIN-BED WITH A MATTRESS PAD AND SLEEPS UP TO FOUR PEOPLE. IT IS RECOMMENDED TO BRING COTS FOR ADDITIONAL SLEEPING OPTIONS. The facility has electricity and cell phone service, as well as an electric stove, heater, microwave and small refrigerator. Some basic eating and cooking utensils are supplied, as well as pots and pans, however drinking water is not available. An outhouse with a vault toilet is provided. Guests will need to bring water for drinking, cooking and cleaning purposes, as well as bedding, towels, soap, garbage bags and toilet paper. Guests will need to clean the cabin before leaving. Some basic cleaning equipment and supplies are provided. The facility can be accessed by vehicle on available dates between May 20 and October 10. It is closed to the public during the remainder of the year. Guests are responsible for their own travel arrangements and safety.
Natural Features
The lookout is located on the third floor of a multiple story building that is used as a radio and cellular tower. Equipment is located on other floors of the building. It is constructed out of concrete blocks with an enclosed stairway, making it more suitable for children. The 2 million-acre Lolo National 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. Both the bald and golden eagle reside in the forest, along with trumpeter swan, herons and dozens of varieties of duck. Contact Info For facility specific information, please call (406) 210-5287.
What the agency tells you
Water is not available at the facility.
This Lookout is a shared site with active communications on the first and second floors.
Be advised that in emergencies, workers may be utilizing the first and second floors for repairs during your stay.
Everything else this campground posts · 7
This facility is located in a remote area; before making a reservation, become aware of bear, water, and weather safety.
The entry gate and lookout remains locked; the key code will be sent to you with your reservation confirmation.
All garbage, food and personal belongings must be packed out.
Smoking and pets are prohibited at the lookout.
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.
Maximum stay limit is 3 nights per reservation.
Tents and rigs
- Sites
- 1 · 1 cabin
- Hookups
- 1 electric
- Accessible sites
- None listed
- Campfires
- Allowed, barring fire bans
- Shade
- Every site
Facilities
- Toilets
- Vault Toilets
- “…is not available. An outhouse with a vault toilet is provided. Guests will need to bring water for…”
- Drinking water
- None, bring your own
- “…as well as pots and pans, however drinking water is not available. An outhouse with a vault toilet is provided.…”
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 Sep 10, 2026 · How we know all this
The sites
1 sites · the site map
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.
| AREA THOMPSON PEAK LOOKOUT TOWER | 001 | cabin electric | 5,212 ft | $75 |
OpenStreetMap has no toilet mapped within 1 km of this campground, so no site here carries a toilet distance. That’s a gap in the map, not a finding about the campground.
Getting there
the map and the coordinate · the agency’s directions · the phone number
Where it is
Trout Creek Campground (MT)Lolo National Forest · 4.6 mi
Sloway Campground (MT)Lolo National Forest · 6.8 mi
Quartz Flat Campground (MT)Lolo National Forest · 9.6 mi
Cascade CampgroundLolo National Forest · 9.6 miLittle Joe Campground - Lolo NFLolo National Forest · 13 miClearwater Crossing CampgroundLolo National Forest · 19 miFrom Missoula, Montana, travel west on I-90 for about 55 miles to Exit 47 for Superior. Turn left at the stop sign. At the next stop sign turn left and proceed under the interstate. Turn left onto Diamond Match Road, towards the Exxon Gas Station, and continue just over a mile, then turn right onto Forest Service Road 320. Drive for about 3 miles and then turn right onto Forest Service Road 7863 and travel just over 6 miles to the lookout. Maps are available online or for purchase by calling the Superior Ranger District at 406-822-4233.
The weather
the next four days
Next four days, and the thirty-year normal
Forecast
NWS forecast for Superior, MT
The land, and who answers for it
what threatens it · who answers for it
What threatens this place
You’re camping on ground somebody wants. We track the threats and the comment deadlines.
Who answers for this land
Thompson Peak Lookout Tower 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 →