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Fire lookout · Ferry County, Washington

Bodie Mountain Lookout Site

Ferry County lookout: 1915 cabin, 1930 20-ft L-4 tower, 1963 timber tower; last tower removed or destroyed 1975; summit now a drive-up with communications towers.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Last lookout removed or destroyed in 1975. SummitPost reports communications towers now at the summit.

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. SummitPost: summit is an ungated drive-up with a rough road; not checked against an official source

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
SummitPost: summit road has rough sections, some needing high clearance; routes from Curlew and from Republic

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerLog cabin with roof platform (1915); 20-foot L-4 tower with cab (1930); 20-foot treated timber tower with R-6 flat cab (1963)The designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
Wood
Also served as
Aircraft Warning Service postDuring the Second World War it was staffed to spot and report aircraft.
Built
1915
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
5,739 ft (1,749 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Ferry County, Washington
Coordinates
48.82742, −118.83280
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-bodie-mountain

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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.7 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. 1914 EventOutlook station under construction; telephone line to the site completedSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1914 First staffedForest Ranger E. W. Wheeler manned the site through September 1914Source: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1915 BuiltLog cabin with a platform above the roof completedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1923 StaffedDave Gillespie listed as known lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  5. 1930 Replaced by a new structure20-foot L-4 tower with cab replaced the cabin; Mike Moran led the building crew; a September 1930 newspaper had planned 16 feetSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. 1942 AlteredTower converted to a three-story house for Aircraft Warning Service sleeping quartersSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1943 ClosedAircraft Warning Service station deactivated July 1, 1943Sources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1952 StaffedWilliam C. Anderson listed as known lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  9. 1958 StaffedGary Kelly listed as known lookout personnel for 1958-1959Source: firelookout.com
  10. 1963 Replaced by a new structure20-foot treated timber tower with R-6 flat cab replaced the L-4Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, summitpost.org
  11. 1975 RemovedRegister and Weebly say removed; firelookout.com and SummitPost say destroyed; Willhite says removed or destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  12. No record between 1975 and 2012
  13. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 10, 2012 as US 1433, WA 333; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  14. 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.

Bodie Mountain sits in Ferry County, Washington, on Colville National Forest land, at 5,739 feet (1,749 m).1,2

A first outlook was under construction in 1914.3,4 A Republic newspaper reported that August that a new outlook station was being built there.4 Willhite says a telephone line had been completed to the site that year.3 A log cabin with a platform above its roof was completed in 1915.1,3,5

Forest Ranger E. W. Wheeler manned the site through September 1914, according to Willhite.3 firelookout.com lists other known lookout staff: Dave Gillespie in 1923, William C. Anderson in 1952, and Gary Kelly in 1958 and 1959.2

In 1930 a 20-foot tower with an L-4 cab replaced the cabin.1,2,3 Mike Moran led the crew that built it.3,4 A September 1930 Republic item had said a 16-foot tower would be built.4 The Register, firelookout.com and Willhite all give 20 feet for the tower that went up.1,2,3

In 1942 the Aircraft Warning Service turned the tower into a three-story house for its sleeping quarters.1,3,5 The station ran from July 25, 1942 until July 1, 1943.3,4

A 20-foot treated timber tower with an R-6 flat cab replaced the L-4 in 1963.1,3

The last lookout came down in 1975.1,2,3,4,5 The Register and Weebly say it was removed, firelookout.com and SummitPost say it was destroyed, and Willhite says it was "removed or destroyed."1,4,2,5,3

Today, SummitPost, a climbing site, says drivers can reach the summit with no gate in the way.5 It says the summit road has rough stretches, some where high clearance is preferred.5 It also says that years after the last lookout was destroyed, a couple of small communications towers went up at the summit.5 A photo caption there mentions a "Historic Remnant," but the text does not say what remains.5 None of the history pages I read describes what is on the summit today.1,2,3,4

  1. Bodie Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/bodie-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Bodie Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/bodiemtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Bodie Mountain Fire Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/bodie_mountain/lookout_082.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Bodie Mountain, Forest Lookouts (Washington), washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/bodie-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Bodie Mountain, SummitPost, https://www.summitpost.org/bodie-mountain/740610 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Bodie Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1916
1916 (1916)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, wartime use, 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: height, 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, height, 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.