Hemlock Butte is a SNOTEL site on the Clearwater National Forest at 5,810 feet. It averages 70 inches of precipitation per year.

It also has a fire lookout at 6,053 feet. The lookout is an L-4 cab design with catwalk that was built in 1954. Previous lookouts at the site were a roofed platform built in 1919 and a D-6 cupola cabin built in 1923 and an L-4 pole tower built in 1934, according to the American Resources, Inc. and Forest Fire Lookout Association web site.

According to The Clearwater Story: A History of the Clearwater National Forest, there were major fires in the area in 1910 and 1919.

It was named for a stand of hemlock at the site.

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