Saint Mary Peak Bitterroot
— — a fire lookout above the valley floor.
Not only on a wall.
“A 9,351-foot summit on the east face of the Bitterroot Range, west of Stevensville. A working fire lookout sits on the top. The trail climbs about 3,700 feet from the Saint Mary Lookout trailhead through Douglas fir and into spruce-fir before topping out on rock. The east view drops two vertical miles to the Bitterroot Valley.
Saint Mary Peak Bitterroot, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Saint Mary Peak crests at 9,351 feet on the eastern wall of the Bitterroot Range, in the Bitterroot National Forest about ten miles west of Stevensville, Montana. The summit holds the Saint Mary Lookout, a wood-frame fire-watch structure built by the U.S. Forest Service in 1953 and still staffed during the summer fire season. The trail begins near 5,700 feet and runs about seven miles round trip with 3,700 feet of gain. The east face drops steeply to the Bitterroot River, with the Sapphire Mountains on the far valley wall.
The Bitterroots run north to south and form the Montana-Idaho border, so the range is the first wall every Pacific weather system meets. Saint Mary's summit catches that weather first. Smoke is the other regular feature; the Bitterroot is one of the most fire-active ranges in the northern Rockies, which is why a staffed lookout still earns its keep. In August the valley below often holds an inversion layer of haze while the summit stays clear. Clark's nutcrackers and the occasional mountain goat are the residents.
The Saint Mary Lookout trailhead lies at the end of Saint Mary Peak Road, a gravel Forest Service road off Indian Prairie Loop near Stevensville. The road is typically passable from late June through October in a passenger car driven slowly. No fee. The hike is rated moderate to strenuous for its sustained grade. The lookout is staffed on a rotating schedule; when occupied, hikers are asked to keep noise down and stay outside the railing. Water is not available on the route. Lightning risk runs high through July and August.