Fire Tower

Fire Tower’s boundary is not where it ends. The ranch’s 153 hectares, between Virginia City and Ennis, Montana, adjoin federal land that connects to the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and to more than 182,000 hectares of public land, with seven mountain ranges in view.

On the ranch itself, a private pond stocked with rainbow trout lies in spring-fed valleys rich in wildlife, with a dock and aeration. Beyond the fence, the public land is open for hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping, and the Ruby and Madison rivers, both well known to anglers, are close by.

Three structures give the ranch its character: the Bear’s Den and Trapper’s cabins, and the Fire Tower, a three-story house of stone and timber built in the form of a fire lookout. The ranch lies under a conservation easement and has two building sites, for a house of up to 325 square meters and a smaller cabin. The groundwork is done: the roads have been regraded with new drainage and culverts, a 1.77-kilometer access road opens the west side, and the ranch is fully fenced, with security cameras and Starlink satellite internet.

Selective logging on 49 hectares, with mulching and native grass seeding on another 16, has thinned the timber, lowered the fire risk, and renewed the landscape.