FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Chelan County, Washington

Boundary Butte Lookout Site

Chelan County drive-up summit near Leavenworth; a 40-foot L-4 tower built 1937 and removed 1967; undated WillhiteWeb photo captions show a cell tower and parking on the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed in 1967; undated WillhiteWeb photo captions show a cell tower on 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. Drive-up on gravel and dirt roads; most passenger cars can get within a quarter mile of the summit. No closure or permit rule in the sources read.

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
No tower stands. WillhiteWeb says walking FR 400 from the four-way at Boundary Pass is around 2 miles with a 600 foot gain.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower40' pole L-4 towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1937
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
3,168 ft (966 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Chelan County, Washington
Coordinates
47.53945, −120.64982
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-boundary-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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.9 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. 1934 EventForest Lookouts lists panorama photos taken September 14, 1934, earlier than the 1937 build year in the other sourcesSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1937 BuiltBuilt in 1937 as a 40-foot pole L-4 towerSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1937 and 1957
  4. 1957 StaffedBobby Harnden named as lookoutSource: firelookout.com
  5. 1963 StaffedGary Kester named as lookoutSource: firelookout.com
  6. 1964 StaffedLynn Watson named as lookoutSource: firelookout.com
  7. 1965 StaffedLarry Standish named as lookoutSource: firelookout.com
  8. 1967 RemovedTower removed in 1967 (all four sources that give a year)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1967 and 2012
  10. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered August 21, 2012; nominated by Ray KresekSource: 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.

Boundary Butte is a high point about four miles south of Leavenworth, in Chelan County and the Wenatchee National Forest, at 3,168 feet.1,2

A 40-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab was built here in 1937.1,2,3

Firelookout.com lists four lookouts by name: Bobby Harnden in 1957, Gary Kester in 1963, Lynn Watson in 1964, and Larry Standish in 1965.2 We found no fire reports for this tower in the sources we read.

The Forest Lookouts page lists panorama photos taken on September 14, 1934, three years before the 1937 build year.4,1 None of the sources we read explains the earlier date.

The tower was removed in 1967.1,2,4,3 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's Washington list still shows the site as a tower that is gone.5

WillhiteWeb calls the summit a drive-up highpoint. Its undated photo captions show a cell tower and parking at the top.3 The page does not say whether any part of the 1937 lookout survives, and we found no source that describes footings or other remains.3

WillhiteWeb says ordinary cars can reach a point a quarter mile from the top on gravel and dirt, though it advises high clearance for the last stretch.3 Walking FR 400 from Boundary Pass is about 2 miles, with a 600-foot gain.3 We found no closure or permit rule for the road in the sources we read.

  1. Boundary Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/boundary-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Boundary Butte Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/boundarybutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Boundary Butte Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/enchantments/boundary_butte/leavenworth_140.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Boundary Butte, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/boundary-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Washington Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wa/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Boundary Butte Lookout Site
Photo: 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, 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.