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Fire lookout · Snohomish County, Washington

Blackjack Ridge Lookout Site

Blackjack Ridge lookout site in Mount Baker-Snoqualmie NF: 30-ft pole tower built 1935, Aircraft Warning Service 1942-43, abandoned about 1950, now gone.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower gone; Willhite found a scattering of bolts, wires, metal, a stove pipe and a wood stove at the site

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
Approach is an old road, now a trail, from a barricaded pull-out; Willhite calls the trip an adventure that is not for the average hiker

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower30-foot pole tower with L-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,100 ft (945 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Snohomish County, Washington
Coordinates
48.05344, −121.59593 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-blackjack-ridge

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 4.0 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 Built30-foot pole tower with L-4 cab; Former Fire Lookout Sites gives 1935, Washington Lookouts gives c.1935Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1935 EventPanoramic photos taken from the site on August 25, 1935; Willhite says only one panoramic shows much terrainSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1942 AlteredSources disagree: Former Fire Lookout Sites and firelookout.com say a shake cabin was built; Washington Lookouts and Willhite say the Aircraft Warning Service added a small storage buildingSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service station activated September 11, 1942 (Seattle Filter Center listed)Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1943 EventAircraft Warning Service station deactivated October 16, 1943Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. 1950 AbandonedAbandoned in 1950 per Former Fire Lookout Sites and firelookout.com; Willhite says around 1950Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1950 and 2020
  8. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered with Former Fire Lookout Sites on February 12, 2020Source: 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.

Blackjack Ridge sits in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and the old lookout route runs in from the Mountain Loop Highway.1,2 In 1935 the site got a 30-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab, set at the northwest end of a long ridge.3,4

Panoramic photographs were taken from the site on August 25, 1935.4 Eric Willhite notes that only one of the two shows much terrain.2

The sources we read name no fire lookout staff for the tower, with one exception. A book excerpt quoted on Willhite's page says a work crew was preparing the lookout for year-round occupancy, and that an older miner and his wife were to spend the winter there.2 The excerpt gives no date. In September 1942 the site became an Aircraft Warning Service station, which ran until October 1943.4,2 A Washington Lookouts page lists the Seattle Filter Center beside those dates.4 The station used facilities that the Mt. Baker National Forest already owned.4

The sources disagree about what the 1942 work added. The Former Fire Lookout Sites page and firelookout.com both describe a shake cabin.3,1 The Washington Lookouts page and Willhite both describe a small storage building added for the Aircraft Warning Service.4,2 When the service ended, the Forest Service kept the site.4 The Former Fire Lookout Sites page gives 1950 as the year the lookout was abandoned, while Willhite says around 1950.3,2

No tower stands on the site today.3,1 Willhite's photos are dated 2014, and they show a scattering of bolts, wires, metal and a stove pipe, with a wood stove about 200 feet east of the lookout point.2

We found no source that says whether the site is open to visitors. Willhite calls the trip an adventure that is not for the average hiker, and he notes that an old road was barricaded at the pull-out.2

  1. Blackjack Ridge Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/blackjackridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Blackjack Ridge Lookout Site - Mountain Loop Highway, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington/fire_lookouts/blackjack_ridge_lookout/mountain_loop_218.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Blackjack Ridge Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/blackjack-ridge-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Blackjack Ridge, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/blackjack-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Blackjack Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-25-35 (N)
Blackjack Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-25-35 (N)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Blackjack Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-25-35 (SW)
Blackjack Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-25-35 (SW)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Blackjack Ridge Lookout site
Blackjack Ridge Lookout sitePhoto: Eric Willhite, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Blackjack Ridge Lookout site
Blackjack Ridge Lookout sitePhoto: Eric Willhite, 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the location by 1.6 km (1.0 mi).

    • FFLOS: 48.05344, −121.59593
    • FFLA: 48.05780, −121.61625
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 48.05780, −121.61625

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from FFLOS.

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.