FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Snohomish County, Washington

Barlow Pass Lookout Site

Snohomish County, WA L-4 cab built 1935 and ended in 1964; sources disagree on removed vs destroyed and on whether four foundation corners remain.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Register says removed in 1964; Firelookout.com and Forest Lookouts say destroyed; WillhiteWeb says burned down; a 2017 visit saw nothing, while WillhiteWeb describes foundations

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. Parking area off the Mountain Loop Highway near the old guard station; a one-mile trail with two forks leads to the site (Register visit report)

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
One mile (Register visit report) or 1.2 miles (WillhiteWeb) from the parking area; take the right-hand fork at each junction

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,222 ft (982 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Snohomish County, Washington
Coordinates
48.03649, −121.44357
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-barlow-pass

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 4.1 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. 1935 BuiltL-4 cab built in 1935Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1935 EventPanorama photos taken July 30, 1935; WillhiteWeb says on the roofSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1942 EventActivated March 20, 1942 and deactivated October 16, 1943 at the Seattle Filter Center; WillhiteWeb says the AWS used it for aircraft spotting in 1942Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1956 StaffedVisitor recalls a manned lookout when first visiting in 1956Source: firetower.org
  5. 1964 BurnedWillhiteWeb says the lookout was burned down in 1964Source: willhiteweb.com
  6. 1964 DestroyedFirelookout.com and Forest Lookouts say destroyed in 1964Sources: firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1964 RemovedRegister says removed in 1964Source: firetower.org
  8. No record between 1964 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 26, 2012; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  10. 2017 Condition assessmentJune 7, 2017 visit report: nothing remains; trees block the viewSource: firetower.org
  11. 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.

Barlow Pass sits in Snohomish County, Washington, in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, at 3,222 feet (982 meters).1,2 WillhiteWeb calls the spot Barlow Point, while the Register and Forest Lookouts use Barlow Pass.1,3,4

A lookout cab went up here in 1935.1,2,3,4 Panorama photographs were taken that summer, on July 30 according to Forest Lookouts, and WillhiteWeb says the photos were made on the roof.3,4 WillhiteWeb says a Forest Service ranger posted at the pass could walk up to staff the lookout during high fire danger or lightning storms.4 A June 7, 2017 visit report on the Register says the writer first came in 1956, when the lookout was staffed.1

WillhiteWeb says the AWS used the lookout to spot aircraft in 1942.4 Forest Lookouts lists the site as activated at the Seattle Filter Center from March 20, 1942 to October 16, 1943.3

The sources agree the cab ended in 1964 but describe it three ways.1,2,3,4 The Register says it was removed that year.1 Firelookout.com and Forest Lookouts say it was destroyed,2,3 and WillhiteWeb says it was burned down.4

Today the sources disagree about what remains. The same visit report says the writer found no remains of the lookout, and that trees have grown so much the view of the valley and mountains is blocked.1 WillhiteWeb's photos carry 2014 captions, and its page tells visitors to look for four foundation corners of local rock and concrete near the rocky summit, one with a steel bolt attached.4 The Register's visit report describes a parking area off the Mountain Loop Highway, near the old guard station, and a one-mile trail with two forks. Take the right-hand fork each time.1 WillhiteWeb gives the trail as 1.2 miles and says a short gravel road leads to the lot on the north side of the highway.4

  1. Barlow Pass Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/barlow-pass-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Barlow Pass Fire Lookout Cabin, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/barlowpass.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Barlow Pass, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/barlow-pass.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Barlow Pass Lookout Site - Guard Station, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington/fire_lookouts/barlow_pass_lookout/mountain_loop_217.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Barlow Pass Lookout in 1961
Barlow Pass Lookout in 1961 (1961)Photo: Larry Schroder, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Barlow Pass Lookout August 1937
Barlow Pass Lookout August 1937 (1937)Photo: George McLeod photos, 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, 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: what it is built of, design, 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.