Smokejumper Visitor Center

Updated: January 30, 2026

The Smokejumper Visitor Center is part of one of the largest and busiest smokejumper bases in the nation and offers a unique opportunity to learn about this unusual, demanding, and dramatic occupation.

A smokejumper's primary job is to suppress wildfires in remote mountainous terrain of the western United States. To do this they are self?sufficient, capable of initial attack in remote mountainous terrain, wilderness areas, rangelands, and parts of the desert Southwest, and may also assist with prescribed burning, fuels reduction projects, and other fire?management work.

A tour of the facility is also available. As you walk through the center, you will see the National Smokejumper Memorial, go inside a replica of a 1930's lookout tower, and tour the smokejumper loft where the smokejumpers sew, inspect, and pack their own parachutes when they are not fighting fires.

You can also tour the ready room and loadmaster?s room where the smokejumpers prepare for fire calls, see training and equipment areas, and learn how aircraft and jumpers are dispatched to fires across the West. Free tours are typically offered during the main summer season (Memorial Day to Labor Day), most often between about 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., with guided tour times such as 10:00, 11:00, 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00 p.m.; hours and tour schedules vary the rest of the year, so visitors are advised to call ahead or check current listings.

Smokejumper Visitor Center is located in Missoula, Montana. Take the Airway Boulevard Exit (Exit 99) off Interstate 90 and follow signs to the Smokejumper Base, located about ½ mile west of the airport terminal at the Aerial Fire Depot, 5765 West Broadway Street, Missoula, MT 59808.

Updated: January 30, 2026