FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Ferry County, Washington

Barnaby Butte Lookout Site

Ferry County, WA tower built in the 1940s and abandoned in 1974; now described as gone. Sources disagree on design, and no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned in 1974. FFLOS says now gone, Forest Lookouts says removed, and WillhiteWeb says the date of removal or burning is unknown.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
One Mountaineers trip report from a Kettle Crest backpack trip describes the group going on an evening walk to Barnaby Butte and its former lookout site. No agency statement on access was found.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower15' treated timber L-5 tower (FFLOS and Firelookout); 15-foot timber tower with R-6 cab (WillhiteWeb); Firelookout also lists a possible 20' R-6 tower in the 1960s, marked with a question markThe designs: L-5, R-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1940
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,534 ft (1,992 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Ferry County, Washington
Coordinates
48.53913, −118.47473
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-barnaby-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 4.5 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. 1940 BuiltSources say only 'the 1940s' (FFLOS, Firelookout, WillhiteWeb); 1940 is a placeholder for the decadeSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. No record between 1940 and 1974
  3. 1974 AbandonedAll three lookout pages give 1974 as the year it was abandonedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. No record between 1974 and 2012
  5. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 9, 2012 with FFLOS, nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  6. 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.

Barnaby Butte's lookout stood in the Colville National Forest, in Ferry County, Washington, about 14 miles southeast of Republic.1,2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register gives the site's elevation as 6,534 feet, or 1,992 meters.1

The lookout went up in the 1940s.1,2,3 The register describes a 15-foot treated timber L-5 tower.1 WillhiteWeb describes a 15-foot timber tower with an R-6 cab, so the two sources do not agree on the design.3 Firelookout.com repeats the 1940s tower and adds a possible 1960s tower, 20 feet tall with an R-6 cab, which the page marks with a question mark.2 We found no other source for that later tower.

None of the sources we read names anyone who staffed the lookout or any fire it reported.1,2,3,4

The register added the site on November 9, 2012, on the nomination of Ray Kresek.1 The tower was abandoned in 1974.1,2,3 The register says it is now gone.1 WillhiteWeb says the date of its removal or burning is unknown.3 The Forest Lookouts index marks the site as removed.4

None of the sources describes what, if anything, is left on the summit.1,2,3,4 A Mountaineers trip report from a Kettle Crest backpack trip says the group took an evening walk to the butte and the site of its former lookout, but the report does not say what they found there.5 We found no agency statement on whether the site is open to visitors, so check with the Colville National Forest before you go.

  1. Barnaby Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/barnaby-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Barnaby Butte Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/barnabybutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Barnaby Butte Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/barnaby_butte/lookout_369.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Barnaby Butte, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/barnaby-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Backpack Kettle Crest South, The Mountaineers, https://www.mountaineers.org/activities/trip-reports/backpack-kettle-crest-south (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Barnaby Butte Lookout 3-1972
Barnaby Butte Lookout 3-1972 (1972)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection - Steve Veltrie photo, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Barnaby Butte Lookout 3-1972
Barnaby Butte Lookout 3-1972 (1972)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection - Steve Veltrie photo, 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, 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.