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Fire lookout · Skamania County, Washington

Aldrich Butte Lookout Site

Skamania County summit: 1942 L-4 tower on a disputed 1930 cab, 1942-43 aircraft warning post, removed 1967; garage base and barriers remain.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Lookout removed or destroyed in 1967; a garage foundation and concrete parking barriers are reported at the site

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. The official route is the Pacific Crest Trail from the Bonneville Trailhead. The older road route crosses posted private land, and Willhite reports a trespass threat there.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
PCT from the Bonneville Trailhead in North Bonneville, 11 miles out and back (Willhite). Willhite lists hiking or 4WD/high-clearance access; the drive route crosses posted private land.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower10-foot wooden tower with an L-4 cab (1942); a 15-foot wooden live-in cab is listed for 1930 but disputedThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1930
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,141 ft (348 m)
Agency
Washington Division of Forestry/U.S. Forest Service
Land
Unknown
Location
Skamania County, Washington
Coordinates
45.65352, −121.97982
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-aldrich-butte

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.7 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. 1930 BuiltFirst lookout listed as a 15-foot wooden live-in cab. Willhite doubts this, citing a 1938 survey with no building.Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service used the lookout from October 7, 1942 to October 16, 1943. Willhite says a garage was built with AWS funds.Sources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1942 Replaced by a new structureRoad built to the summit; a 10-foot wooden tower with an L-4 cab went upSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1946 AlteredCabin addedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1946 and 1967
  6. 1967 RemovedLookout destroyed or removedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1967 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered June 20, 2012 as US 1305, WA 205; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  9. 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.

Aldrich Butte is a prominent point along the Columbia River Gorge, about five miles southwest of Stevenson in Skamania County, Washington.1,2,3

The lookout inventory dates a first lookout to 1930, a 15-foot wooden live-in cab.1,2 Willhite doubts it, noting that a 1938 survey party mentioned no lookout building.3

In 1942, when a road was built to the summit, a 10-foot wooden tower with an L-4 cab went up.1,2,3 A cabin was added in 1946.1,2

From October 7, 1942, until October 16, 1943, the Aircraft Warning Service used the lookout.3,4 Willhite says the AWS papers describe a garage built with AWS money.3 None of the pages I read names a person who staffed the lookout.

The lookout was removed or destroyed in 1967.1,2,3,4 The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists the tower as gone.5 The site still shows some traces of the wartime and later use.1,3 The FFLOS photo of the site is captioned as a garage foundation, and Willhite counts at least a dozen concrete blocks used as parking barriers in the lot below the summit.1,3

Willhite describes the summit as reachable by hiking or by a 4WD or high-clearance drive.3 The official route is the Pacific Crest Trail from the Bonneville Trailhead in North Bonneville, which Willhite puts at 11 miles out and back.3 The older road route crosses posted private land, and Willhite reports that a landowner threatened trespass charges.3 Use the trail, and leave the posted road route alone.

  1. Aldrich Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites (firetower.org), http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/aldrich-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Aldrich Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/aldrichbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Aldrich Butte Fire Lookout - North Bonneville WA, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/aldrich_butte/bonneville_215.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Aldrich Butte, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/aldrich-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Washington Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wa/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Aldrich Butte Lookout panoramic 7-7-1941 (N)
Aldrich Butte Lookout panoramic 7-7-1941 (N) (1941)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Aldrich Butte Lookout panoramic 7-7-1941 (SE)
Aldrich Butte Lookout panoramic 7-7-1941 (SE) (1941)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Aldrich Butte Lookout panoramic 7-7-1941 (SW)
Aldrich Butte Lookout panoramic 7-7-1941 (SW) (1941)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Aldrich Butte Lookout site
Aldrich Butte Lookout sitePhoto: Eric Willhite, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Aldrich Butte Lookout site - garage foundation
Aldrich Butte Lookout site - garage foundationPhoto: Eric Willhite, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.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 LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: 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
  5. WillhiteWeb.com: Washington Fire Lookouts Gave us: links WillhiteWeb.com · No licence stated; names and page links only (the site's photos and text are not reproduced). · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, 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

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