Castle Butte Lookout

Castle Butte Lookout is a unique cabin perched on a rocky point, 6,659 feet above sea level. It offers breathtaking, 360-degree views of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, the Seven Devils Mountains, the Great Burn area and the deep canyons of the North Fork Clearwater River's upper drainages. A cabin was first constructed on this site in 1916 and was replaced in 1928 with a log cabin featuring a cupola; the current lookout was built in 1950. Access to the lookout is via the Lolo Motorway, a primitive, single-lane road constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the early 1930s. It is not recommended for large RVs, vehicles with low ground clearance or trailers. Guests should be prepared to walk about 100 feet up steep, rocky terrain to reach the lookout. Castle Butte Lookout is equipped with a few creature comforts, but guests will need to bring some gear and supplies to help make their stay enjoyable. Hikers can follow the paths of the Nez Perce and Lewis and Clark on the historic Lolo Trail, and the Lolo Motorway is popular with off-road vehicle enthusiasts. Huckleberries are abundant in the summer, offering good berry picking opportunities. The lookout can accommodate four people and comes equipped with two twin beds with foam mattresses, two cots, a table with two chairs, mop and bucket, a propane cook stove, propane lights, propane heater and propane. A pit toilet is located in a separate building outside. The cabin does not have electricity or water, and there is no close water source, so guests should bring their own water supply. Guests must also provide their own emergency lighting, garbage bags, bedding, matches, toilet paper, cookware and cooking utensils, and the cabin should be cleaned before departure. The lookout is surrounded by a rocky landscape that quickly gives way to dense forests of lodgepole and ponderosa pines. This unique facility offers an ideal vantage point to watch sunrises and sunsets, and gaze at the stars. Wildlife enthusiasts may spot eagles, bears, moose, elk, deer and mountain goats. The Lolo Motorway stretches for 100 miles through scenic mountain landscapes, and summer visitors can see meadows and hillsides blanketed in colorful wildflowers; travelers should be prepared for rough, sometimes treacherous conditions, and no services are located along this road, so bring plenty of gas, food and water for the drive.