Fire lookout · Skagit County, Washington
Bacon Point Lookout Site
Skagit Forest Service L-4 tower built 1934, an Aircraft Warning station in 1942-43, removed 1956; a footing and a fallen tower leg remained at the trip report's visit.
- Gone
- Open to the public
- Verified
Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed or destroyed in 1956 (sources differ on which); a footing and a fallen tower leg remained at the trip report's visit
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. Landowner is National Forest; the trip report mentions no permit or gate, but says washouts make the road impassable a short way past the first switchback
- Road to the top?
- Unknown
- Trail
- Old road then open forest from Bacon Creek Road; Willhite lists 1.5 miles and about 1,000 feet of gain
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a towerL-4 cab on a 35-foot tower per the registry (1935 panoramas say 40 feet)The design: L-4
- Built of
- Not recorded
- Built
- 1934
- Height
- 35 ft (10.7 m)
- Elevation
- 1,710 ft (521 m)
- Agency
- U.S. Forest Service
- Land
- Federal land
- Location
- Skagit County, Washington
- Coordinates
- 48.60363, −121.38056
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-wa-bacon-point
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 4.4 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
- 1934 BuiltBuilt as a 35-foot L-4 tower per the registry; Willhite says probably 35 feetSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
- 1935 EventPanorama photos taken on July 20, 1935Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
- 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service station activated March 21, 1942 (station named Yoke 8-7 on Washington Lookouts)Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
- 1943 EventAircraft Warning Service station deactivated October 16, 1943; Forest Service kept the site for fire detectionSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
- 1956 RemovedRegistry and Washington Lookouts say removed; firelookout.com says destroyed; Willhite says removed or destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
- No record between 1956 and 2012
- 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 25, 2012 as US 1219, WA 120Source: firetower.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
Bacon Point is a low site on the boundary between the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and the Ross Lake National Recreational Area, in Skagit County, Washington, at 1,710 feet.1,2 A lookout was built there in 1934, and the Forest Service administered it.1,2 The registry and firelookout.com describe a 35-foot L-4 tower.1,3 Willhite says the 1935 panoramas, taken from the catwalk, put the height at 40 feet, but he thinks 35 feet is more likely.2
Panoramic photographs were taken from the site on July 20, 1935.4,2
During World War II the site was an Aircraft Warning Service station. It was activated on March 21, 1942, and deactivated on October 16, 1943.4,2 Willhite says the service added a sleeping cabin that cost $350.2 After the station closed, the Forest Service kept the site for fire detection.4
The sources give 1956 as the year the tower came down. The registry and Washington Lookouts say it was removed, firelookout.com says it was destroyed, and Willhite says the cab was removed or destroyed that year.1,3,4,2 Willhite thinks the tower poles probably stood until 10 to 20 years ago, which does not fit the 1956 date well.2
Willhite found the views gone, but relics remain. He describes one footing still above ground and a tower leg that fell between two trees.2 The land is National Forest, and he reached the site by an old road and then open forest. He lists it at 1.5 miles with about 1,000 feet of climb.2 Washouts make the road impassable a short way past the first switchback, and his trip report mentions no permit.2
- Bacon Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/bacon-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Bacon Point Lookout Site, Eric Willhite, WillhiteWeb, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/bacon_point_lookout/marblemount_196.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Bacon Point Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/baconpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Bacon Point, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/bacon-point.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
Photos
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Sources
- Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) 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
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page (opens another site) 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
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) (opens another site) 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
- WillhiteWeb.com: Washington Fire Lookouts (opens another site) 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
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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
- FFLOS register entry US 1219 (firetower.org) (opens another site)
- FFLA Washington lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Bacon Point on firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra) (opens another site)
- Bacon Point on Forest Lookouts, western US (Ron Kemnow) (opens another site)
- Bacon Point on WillhiteWeb.com Washington Fire Lookouts (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.