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Fire lookout · Kittitas County, Washington

Big Creek Lookout Site

Kittitas County ridge lookout: an L-4 cab built in 1931 and gone by 1955. Photo captions show a foundation and stove parts in the forest.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab gone by 1955; WillhiteWeb photo captions mention a foundation and stove parts.

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. Forest roads, then a short trail. None of the pages read mentions a gate or closure.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Under a mile with about 600 feet of gain on WillhiteWeb's route; the road is steep and rocky near its end.

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
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,495 ft (1,675 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Kittitas County, Washington
Coordinates
47.15401, −121.28084
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-big-creek

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. 1930 EventPhone line reached the site the year before the cab (per WillhiteWeb)Source: willhiteweb.com
  2. 1931 BuiltL-4 cab builtSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1933 StaffedBruce Anderson listed as lookoutSource: firelookout.com
  4. 1936 StaffedClare Moyer reported as lookout for about two months, per the Bothell CitizenSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1936 and 1955
  6. 1955 RemovedCab gone by 1955; date, cause and method not givenSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1955 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered July 19, 2012Source: firetower.org
  9. 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.

Big Creek Lookout stood on a knoll at the end of a ridge in Kittitas County, in the Wenatchee National Forest.1,2 Firelookout.com places it 16 miles west-southwest of Cle Elum.3 WillhiteWeb says the site was picked to watch one particular area rather than a wider region.2

The phone line reached the site in 1930, and an L-4 cab was built in 1931.2,1 The FFLOS register gives the same 1931 date.1

Firelookout.com lists Bruce Anderson as a lookout in 1933.3 A September 1936 article from the Bothell Citizen, quoted on two of these pages, says Clare Moyer spent two months as a forest-fire lookout at Big Creek.2,4 It describes one small fire during what it called a very quiet season.2,4

The register and both other pages say the cab was gone by 1955.1,3,2 None of them says how it came down.1,3,2

WillhiteWeb says the site is now overgrown with forest and out of sight of the hiking trail close by.2 Photo captions on the same page name a foundation and stove parts.2

Reaching it means a long drive on forest roads.2 WillhiteWeb says the road is steep and rocky near its end.2 The walk is under a mile and gains about 600 feet.2 The trail begins on an abandoned spur road and soon enters old-growth forest.2

The register lists the site at 5,495 feet, or 1,675 meters.1 WillhiteWeb says the lookout stood at 5,368 feet, and that the 5,495-foot point lies about five minutes further up the ridge.2

  1. Big Creek Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/big-creek-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Big Creek Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/big_creek/lookout_site_220.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Big Creek Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/bigcreek.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Big Creek - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/big-creek.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Big Creek Lookout 1938
Big Creek Lookout 1938 (1938)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Big Creek Lookout panoramic 8-14-1934 (N)
Big Creek Lookout panoramic 8-14-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Big Creek Lookout panoramic 8-14-1934 (SE)
Big Creek Lookout panoramic 8-14-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Big Creek Lookout panoramic 8-14-1934 (SW)
Big Creek Lookout panoramic 8-14-1934 (SW) (1934)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.