Trail Overview

This is a short gravel trail that leads up to the Gird Point fire tower. The trail is gravel, and easily navigated by most vehicles. It also has several offshoots leading to hiking and other views. Be on the lookout for both cattle and mountain goats on the trail. It is lightly traveled and provides excellent views of both the Sapphire and Bitterroot ranges. The view at the top of the lookout is well worth the drive, and the tower itself can be rented for overnight stays through the forest service.

Photos of Gird Point Lookout

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Difficulty

The trail is gravel and wide enough to be comfortable on the switchbacks. While the trail isn't wide enough in all spots to turn around, there are several pull offs and areas to turn around throughout the trail. There are occasional larger rocks up to 10" that are easily avoided.

Technical Rating

AmyD

May 25, 2026

Open

Lots of downed trees from the fire and winds last year (2025) the closer you got to the lookout, but FS had just been through to cut things up. Everything was passable until the sign below the lookout. Snow was too thick from there on to keep going. Overall, the trail was mostly dry and easy to traverse.

Charlie Melnarik

Dec 14, 2024

Open

The beginning of the road was dry. As you get higher up the road gets muddy and then eventually, closer to the lookout tower, the snow started to have a little bit of depth to it. By the end of the trail, beyond the lookout tower the snow was nearly 2ft deep. It was mostly drivable to the end with a SxS. We were getting stuck towards the last quarter mile of the Skalkaho ST. Clair trail.