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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Aeneas Lookout

Also known as Aeneas Mountain, Lemanasky Lookout

Okanogan County DNR lookout: fire camp 1914, CCC L-4 cab 1934, present tower 1980, staffed to 2020; the state toppled it in late 2024.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in late 2024 by the State of Washington, which toppled it with a bulldozer; the FFLA report says a tower with cameras was planned to replace it

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Summit is on DNR land; an alternate route is fully on public lands. The access road crosses private property under a DNR easement, and sources say access has been controversial

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Alternate route from Sinlahekin Road: about 5.5 miles on a road to the north side of the summit, then ridge game trails (TrailChick lists 12.5 miles round trip)

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Cab on a tower40-foot wooden tower with 14 by 14 foot flattop live-in cab with catwalk (DNR, 1980); the L-4 cab was the 1934 CCC cabThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1920
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
5,099 ft (1,554 m)
Agency
Washington Dept. of Natural Resources
Land
Unknown
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.74301, −119.62216
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-aeneas

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

Downloads about 4.2 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1914 EventSite first established as a fire campSource: trailchick.com
  2. 1916 First staffedContinuous summer staffing from 1916 per TrailChick and firelookout.comSources: trailchick.com, firelookout.com
  3. 1920 BuiltOne-room log cabin built by the Forest Service; stood until 1956Sources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com
  4. 1922 StaffedBill Knosher named to the stationSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1934 BuiltCivilian Conservation Corps built an L-4 cab atop a 20-foot timber towerSources: trailchick.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1934 and 1954
  7. 1954 EventForest Service sold the tower to the Department of Natural ResourcesSource: trailchick.com
  8. 1955 StaffedRay Kresek staffed the towerSource: trailchick.com
  9. No record between 1955 and 1980
  10. 1980 BuiltPresent DNR tower and flattop live-in cab built by the Washington Dept. of Natural ResourcesSources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com
  11. No record between 1980 and 1995
  12. 1995 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered May 1, 1995 as US 118, WA 10Source: nhlr.org
  13. No record between 1995 and 2020
  14. 2020 Last staffedLast staffed in 2020; firelookout.com says it then went to emergency statusSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  15. 2024 RemovedRemoved by the State of Washington in late 2024; sources give October or NovemberSources: trailchick.com, firelookout.com, firelookout.org
  16. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Aeneas Mountain, in Okanogan County, Washington, was first established as a fire camp in 1914.1,2 Some sources call the site the Lemanasky Lookout.3 According to the Register, the Forest Service built the first lookout here, a single-room log cabin, in 1920.1 TrailChick says the cabin stood until 1956.2

In 1934 the Civilian Conservation Corps put an L-4 cab atop a 20-foot timber tower.2,4 The Forest Service sold the tower to the Department of Natural Resources in 1954.2 According to the Register, the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources put up the present tower in 1980.1 The Register gives its height as 40 feet, while firelookout.com gives 42 feet.1,5

Bill Knosher was named to the station in 1922.4 Ray Kresek staffed the tower in 1955.2 TrailChick counts 104 summers of continuous staffing, from 1916 through 2020.2 The Register records 2020 as the final staffed year.1

The state removed the lookout in late 2024.2,5,6 TrailChick says it came down in November, and firelookout.com says October.2,5 The Washington chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association reported that the state chose to replace the lookout with a camera tower, and that it toppled the structure with a bulldozer.6

The sources do not describe what, if anything, remains on the summit, so this story does not describe any remains or view. The Register lists the site under the Washington Dept. of Natural Resources - Northeast Division.1 TrailChick says many people have run into trouble over road access and private landowners.2 WillhiteWeb says the access road passes through several private properties, and DNR holds an easement.3 TrailChick describes a second route that stays entirely on public land. It follows a road for about 5.5 miles to the north side of the summit, then runs along ridge game trails.2

  1. Aeneas Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/aeneas-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Aeneas Mountain - RIP, TrailChick, https://www.trailchick.com/wa-state-fire-lookouts/aeneas-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Lemanasky Lookout on Aeneas Mountain, WillhiteWeb, http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/aeneas_lookout/lemanasky_336.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Aeneas Mountain - Forest Lookouts, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/aeneas-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Aeneas Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/aeneas.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Report from FFLA Washington Chapter for 2024/2025, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/cr-wa-2024.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Aeneas Mountain Lookout - 2004
Aeneas Mountain Lookout - 2004 (2004)Photo: Tammy McLeod, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1981 photo
1981 photo (1981)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Ice covered - 2010
Ice covered - 2010 (2010)Photo: Bob Pfeifer, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • NHLR: Standing
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Gone
    • OpenStreetMap: Standing

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered. firelookout.com lists it, but not on its map of standing lookouts.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: register numbers, access, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: design, height, links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, staffing, visiting details, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.