FLATHEAD COUNTY
SPOTTED BEAR MOUNTAIN
Flathead National Forest
25N-15W-25
25N-15W-25
1916: 2-story 13x13 log cabin. (Kresek)
October 1, 1959: "Leonard Ludkie, Robert and Art Anderson went to Spotted Bear Wednesday to bring in a pack string and packer Ab Funk who will pack in gravel and other supplies needed for building the 50-foot lookout tower." (The Flathead Courier)
October 10, 1961: "The airlift saved Berlin. And it saved the U.S. Forest Service $1,900.
An entire lookout tower and ranger cabin was hefted into the Spotted Bear lookout area by helicopter over the weekend at a cost of $1,100.
To repair a pack mule trail into the site so that the mules could navigate the road with the equipment on their backs would have cost $3,000.
The dismantled tower and cabin arrived by railroad at the Coram depot. It was transported by truck to the Spotted Bear Ranger Station. There it was loaded on the helicopter for the final lap of its journey to the lookout site.
The new tower and cabin will be assembled and erected in the spring, replacing the present tower and cabin which have been rated unsafe.
The tower when assembled will be 20 feet in height, supporting a 14 x 14 cabin.
The operation was supervised by J. Frank Menelly of the Kalispell office of the U.S. Forest Service.
To have packed the material in by mule would have involved a 15 mile trek and a seven mile uphill climb.: (The Daily Inter Lake)
January 3, 1962: "A highlight of the year was the hauling of material for construction of a new lookout tower by a Hiller model 12 helicopter. The trip was made in October with eight tons of material hauled for construction of a new Spotted Bear Mountain lookout. The trip was made from Spotted Bear landing field to the lookout site with elevation ranges from 3,600 feet to 7,023 feet. It marked the first time in the Flathead National Forest that a helicopter was used for such a project." (The Daily Inter Lake)
August 26, 2015: The lookout was wrapped, in fire resistant material, against the threat of the Bear Creek fire. The fires were caused by a lightning storm August 12th. On the 20th of August the fire grew from 465 acres to over 17,000 acres in a period of 4 hours, due to strong winds, high temperature and low relative humidity.
August 27, 2015: Due to the increase in size and direction of the Bear Creek fire, the lookout's staff was evacuated by helicopter.
STATION DESCRIPTION
DESCRIBED BY COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY 1940
STATION IS ABOUT 4.5 MILES (AIR LINE) SE OF THE SPOTTED BEAR
RANGER STATION, 2 MILES S OF THE SPOTTED BEAR RIVER, AND ABOUT
3 MILES E OF THE S FORK OF THE FLATHEAD RIVER ON THE HIGHEST
POINT OF SPOTTED BEAR MOUNTAIN, A HIGH PROMINENT TIMBERED
RIDGE RUNNING SE AND NW. THE MOUNTAIN IS BARE AND ROCKY ALONG
ITS VERY TOP. THE STATION IS ABOUT 0.5 MILE SE OF THE SPOTTED
BEAR LOOKOUT TOWER (U.S.F.S.).
STATION SPOTTED BEAR IS REACHED FROM THE SPOTTED BEAR RANGER STATION
BY FOLLOWING THE SPOTTED BEAR LOOKOUT TRAIL SE ABOUT 8 MILES,
MOSTLY UPGRADE, TO THE LOOKOUT TOWER.
HORSES CAN BE PACKED TO THE STATION BUT THERE IS LITTLE FEED
AND NO WATER ABOVE THE RANGER STATION AREA.