Road trip guide: Conquering Morrell Mountain in MT

Morrell Mountain is a high mountain peak at an elevation of 2.369m (7,772ft) above the sea level, located in Powell County, in the U.S. state of Montana.

Morrell Mountain

Can you drive to Morrell Mountain?

Located to the east of Seeley Lake, the narrow, single-lane mountain road to the summit is extremely steep and totally impassable for 2 cars at the same time, with steep drop-offs. It’s called Morrell Mountain Lookout Road (#4365). This road is usually impassable from late October through late June or early July (depending on snow). The last miles are rocky with a lot of switchbacks. The gravel road slightly deteriorates and becomes narrower as you get closer to the summit.

How long is the road to Morrell Mountain?

Set high in Lolo National Forest, the summit hosts a fire lookout tower, built in 1962. Starting at Cottonwood Lakes Road, the road to the summit is 13.84km (8.6 miles) long. Over this distance, the elevation gain is 878 m. The average gradient is 6.34%.

Pic: Kevin Grimes