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Fire lookout · Whatcom County, Washington

Anderson Butte Lookout Site (Whatcom County)

Also known as Anderson Butte

Whatcom County lookout site: a 1920 camp, then an L-4 cab built in 1935 or 1936, removed or destroyed in 1968. A hiking trail reaches the site, with views of Mount Baker.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Lookout gone. The cab was removed or destroyed in 1968, depending on the source; a hiking trail still reaches the former 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. WTA describes a hiking trail to the site; parking needs an America the Beautiful Pass or a Northwest Forest Pass

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
2.5 miles round trip; climbs about 600 feet in half a mile (WTA). Old trails from the Komo Kulshan and Baker Lake guard stations are historical only

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab (after a 1920 camp)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,420 ft (1,652 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Whatcom County, Washington
Coordinates
48.67346, −121.60217
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-anderson-butte-whatcom-county

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 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. 1920 EventA camp was set up on the butteSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1928 RemovedEarlier 'fireman-lookout' taken down; a 1928 account quoted by Forest Lookouts and Willhite says a bear wrecked the telephone left on the pointSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1935 BuiltWillhite says the L-4 cab was likely built in 1935; panoramas dated September 6, 1935 were taken from its roofSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1936 BuiltRegister and firelookout.com give the L-4 cab as 1936Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1936 and 1968
  6. 1968 Destroyedfirelookout.com and Willhite say the cab was destroyed in 1968Sources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1968 RemovedRegister and Forest Lookouts give removal in 1968Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1968 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 25, 2012 as US 1218, WA 119Source: firetower.org
  10. 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.

Anderson Butte is a former lookout site in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, in Whatcom County, about 12 miles southeast of Mount Baker.1,2 The site stands at 5,420 feet.2

A camp was set up here in 1920.2,3 In 1928 an account quoted by two sites says the earlier "fireman-lookout" was taken down that year, and that the telephone left on the lookout point was found torn down. The writer blamed a bear.4,3

Sources disagree on when the L-4 cab that followed was built. The Register and firelookout.com give 1936.2,1 Willhite says it was likely built in 1935, and both Forest Lookouts and Willhite record panoramic photos taken on September 6, 1935. Willhite says the panoramas were taken from the cab's roof.4,3

The Register and Forest Lookouts say the cab was removed in 1968.2,4 Firelookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed that year.1,3

The Washington Trails Association describes a 2.5-mile round-trip hike to the site of the former lookout tower, climbing about 600 feet in half a mile.5 From the top, the views take in Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan.5 Parking requires an America the Beautiful Pass or a Northwest Forest Pass.5 Willhite notes that old trails once reached the site from the Komo Kulshan and Baker Lake guard stations.3 We found no source that describes what, if anything, remains of the lookout today.

  1. Anderson Butte Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/andersonbutte128.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Anderson Butte Lookout Site (Whatcom County), Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/anderson-butte-lookout-site-whatcom-county/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Anderson Butte Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, https://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/anderson_butte_lookout/baker_lake_056.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Anderson Butte, Forest Lookouts (Washington), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/anderson-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Anderson Butte, Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/anderson-butte (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Anderson Butte Lookout panoramic 9-6-35 (SE)
Anderson Butte Lookout panoramic 9-6-35 (SE)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Anderson Butte Lookout panoramic 9-6-35 (SW)
Anderson Butte Lookout panoramic 9-6-35 (SW)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Anderson Butte Lookout panoramic 9-6-35 (N)
Anderson Butte Lookout panoramic 9-6-35 (N)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, 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. 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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