Mission Lookout sits at 3.700 feet above Swan Lake and offers views of the Swan Valley and Mission Mountains. Many fire lookouts began their life as a simple structure: a firefinder on a mountain peak, a tall tree to climb, or even a slightly more comfortable crows' nest structure, such as Mission Mountain Lookout was, at least for part of its close to 100-year life. A 25' platform tower was built in 1921, with a cabin for living quarters built in the 1930's along with a newer, 35' wooden platform. The present tower, a 41' treated timber with R-6 flat cab, built in 1959, is still used for emergencies, and is also on the rental program. The caption on one photo reads: "Mrs Art Halverson being helped down from first Mission Lookout Swan District By R.H. Gatiss." The other picture of the same structure is a pen and ink drawing from a 1923 photo, from Early Days in the Forest Service, Vol. 4. The last three are photographs of the 1959 structure that sits on the peak today.