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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Buckhorn Mountain Lookout Site

Okanogan County, WA lookout built 1933 as a log cabin on an 84-ft pole tower; removed 1958. Summit is now mining-company land posted no trespassing.

Private land

No public access. Please do not trespass; view it only from public land. Summit is owned by a mining company and posted no trespassing, per WillhiteWeb

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1958; sources describe footings and foundation pieces, not a standing tower

Visit & stay

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

Access

Private land. See the warning at the top of this page.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
No tower remains to climb. The summit is posted private land. WillhiteWeb describes Forest Service roads that stop within a quarter mile of the top, and says the summit is gated and signed no trespassing.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerLog cabin on an 84-foot pole tower with an L-6 cab; ladder access only, no stairsThe design: L-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1933
Height
84 ft (25.6 m)
Elevation
5,602 ft (1,708 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Okanogan National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.94569, −118.98610
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-buckhorn-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 4.3 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. 1929 EventAug 2, 1929 storm started some 40 fires in the Colville district; a lightning fire within 200 yards of emergency man Frank Woodruff was put out by himSource: willhiteweb.com
  2. 1932 EventRepublic News-Miner reports a road to the summit and a planned 70-foot towerSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1933 BuiltLog cabin on 84-foot pole tower with L-6 cab, per the register and Firelookout.com; WillhiteWeb also gives 1933Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1934 StaffedPhoto captioned 'James Harry at Buckhorn lookout station' (1934), in a 1974 Gazette-Tribune item quoted by Forest LookoutsSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1934 and 1958
  6. 1958 RemovedTower removed; the register, Firelookout.com and WillhiteWeb all give 1958Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1958 and 2001
  8. 2001 EventRegister photos captioned 'Foundation pieces', dated 9/13/2001Source: firetower.org
  9. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 4, 2011 as US 810, WA 32Source: firetower.org
  10. 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.

Buckhorn Mountain stands at about 5,600 feet in Okanogan County, Washington.1,2 Reconstruction work had put a road to the summit in place by 1932, and the Republic News-Miner reported that a lookout was planned there for that summer.3

The lookout was built in 1933.1,4,2 The register and Firelookout.com describe a log cabin on an 84-foot pole tower, with an L-6 cab and ladder access only.1,4 A July 1932 newspaper item had planned a 70-foot tower, and WillhiteWeb quotes a 1934 panorama taken "at 70 feet plus 5 feet."3,2 The sources do not settle the height, so we give the register's figure.

Before the tower was built, a storm on August 2, 1929 set off some 40 fires in the Colville district. A lightning strike set a fire less than 200 yards from Frank Woodruff, an emergency man stationed on the mountaintop, and he put it out himself.2

The only staff name we found is James Harry. A 1974 Gazette-Tribune feature ran a 1934 photo captioned "James Harry at Buckhorn lookout station."3 We found no other staff names.

The tower was taken down in 1958.1,4,2 The register's photos include "Foundation pieces" dated 9/13/2001.1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites Register listed the site on January 4, 2011, as US 810, WA 32.1

A mining company now holds the summit and has put up gates and no-trespassing signs there.2 WillhiteWeb also mentions new towers under construction on the summit and a few phone insulators on trees along the Forest Service approach road.2 The sources describe footings and foundation pieces, not the tower, and none describes the lookout still standing.1,2 A U.S. Geological Survey benchmark was set in a boulder at the tower's center in 1957.2 Because the summit is posted, we cannot point anyone to it.

  1. Buckhorn Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/buckhorn-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Buckhorn Mountain Fire Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/buckhorn_mountain/lookout_083.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Buckhorn Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/buckhorn-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Buckhorn Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/buckhorn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Buckhorn Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Foundation pieces 9/13/2001
Foundation pieces 9/13/2001 (2001)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
9/13/2001
9/13/2001 (2001)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
9/13/2001
9/13/2001 (2001)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
9/13/2001
9/13/2001 (2001)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
9/13/2001
9/13/2001 (2001)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Buckhorn Mountain Lookout
Buckhorn Mountain LookoutPhoto: Rex Kamstra collection - Dorothy Albin photo, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Buckhorn Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-16-1934 (N)
Buckhorn Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-16-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Buckhorn Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-16-1934 (SE)
Buckhorn Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-16-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Buckhorn Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-16-1934 (SW)
Buckhorn Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-16-1934 (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: 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, staffing, 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.