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Fire lookout · Skamania County, Washington

Badger Peak Lookout Site

Gifford Pinchot lookout planned on Badger Peak in 1926; its L-4 cab was removed in 1960, and no source describes a structure there today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The L-4 cab was removed in 1960; no source describes a structure on the summit today

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. Reached by a hike from the Mosquito Meadows trailhead off Forest Road 28; no closure is mentioned in the sources read

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Willhite lists the summit as 3.5 miles away; the route starts at the Mosquito Meadows trailhead off Forest Road 28

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab that replaced an earlier cabinThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1924
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,664 ft (1,726 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Skamania County, Washington
Coordinates
46.28341, −121.89432
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-badger-peak

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 4.3 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. 1924 BuiltCabin, per the FFLOS register; Willhite gives 1924, 1926 or 1928 for the first structureSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1926 EventNewspaper reports a planned first tower on Badger Peak (plan only, not a built date)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1929 EventPanoramic photographs taken from the site, credited to the National Archives Pacific Northwest RegionSource: firetower.org
  4. No record between 1929 and 1960
  5. 1960 RemovedL-4 cab removed per the register; Willhite says removed or destroyed; firelookout.com says destroyed in the 1960sSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1960 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: June 23, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  8. 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.

A plan for a lookout on Badger Peak was reported in April 1926.1 A Chehalis newspaper said the first tower would stand on the ridge between the Lewis and Cispus rivers and watch over eastern Lewis and Skamania counties.1 Each tower was to have a ranger's cabin topped by a glassed-in cupola, which would hold an Osborne fire finder.1

The sources disagree about the first structure. The register says a cabin was built in 1924.2 Willhite notes that the sources give 1924, 1926 or 1928, and that it is unclear what was built.3 In the 1930s the first structure was replaced with an L-4 cab.2,3 Panoramic photographs taken in 1929 are credited to the National Archives Pacific Northwest Region.2

No staffing history appears in the sources available for this story.

The L-4 cab came down in 1960.2,3 Willhite says it was removed or destroyed that year, and firelookout.com says it was destroyed in the 1960s.3,4

Willhite's page describes a USGS marker on the summit, labeled "Badger LO RM 1937." A 2006 trip report on the same page mentions "some old evidence of a lookout" at the summit but gives no detail.3 No source here says what, if anything, stands there now. Willhite lists the summit as 3.5 miles away, reached through the Mosquito Meadows trailhead off Forest Road 28 in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.2,3 No closure is mentioned. Willhite also cautions that this site is different from the former Badger Mountain lookout above Wenatchee.3

  1. Forest Lookouts: Badger Peak, Forest Lookouts (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/badger-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Badger Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, Forest Fire Lookout Association, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/badger-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Badger Peak Lookout, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, WillhiteWeb Washington Fire Lookouts, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/badger_peak_lookout/gifford_pinchot_384.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Badger Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/badgerpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Badger Peak Lookout 1957
Badger Peak Lookout 1957 (1957)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Badger Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (NE)
Badger Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (NE) (1929)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Badger Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (NW)
Badger Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (NW) (1929)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Badger Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (S)
Badger Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (S) (1929)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, 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, 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. 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

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