FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Burch Mountain Lookout Site

Okanogan County, WA summit lookout near the Pasayten Wilderness; 1934 L-4 lookout burned accidentally in 1957 and was never replaced. Captioned footings mark a hike-in summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Burned in 1957 and never replaced; sources describe footings, an anchor and rock work 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. Reached on hiking trail only; no closure for this trail is listed on the Forest Service page read

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Forest Service Trail 538 from Billy Goat Trailhead via Billy Goat Pass; final 0.6 mile climbs a steep talus slope; unmarked side trail to the summit; not officially maintained for many years and not for stock use

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab on a short tower (10 ft or 15 ft per sources); earlier log and frame cupola cabin from the 1920sThe designs: L-4, Cupola house
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
14 ft (4.3 m)
Elevation
7,782 ft (2,372 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest today)
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.79702, −120.30527
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-burch-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 4.2 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. 1931 StaffedWenatchee Daily World: Mr. and Mrs. Douglas McRae of Hollywood, Cal. sent to 'Birch Mountain' for the fire season; item filed under Burch by Forest LookoutsSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1934 BuiltSecond lookout: L-4 cab on a 10-ft tower (register, Firelookout.com) or 15-ft tower (WillhiteWeb); Forest Lookouts dates panorama photos to September 3, 1934Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1934 and 1957
  4. 1957 BurnedAccidental fire per register, Firelookout.com and WillhiteWeb; never replacedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1957 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 10, 2012 as US 1435, WA 335Source: firetower.org
  7. 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.

Burch Mountain rises to 7,782 feet in Okanogan County, Washington, and sits along the edge of the Pasayten Wilderness.1,2,3

The first lookout here dates from the 1920s. It was a log and frame cabin with a cupola.1,2 A December 1930 item described it as log construction, 14 feet by 14, with a 6-by-6 dog house on its roof.4

In July 1931 the Wenatchee Daily World reported that a couple from Hollywood, California, had gone to "Birch Mountain" to stay as long as the fire danger lasted.4 The Forest Lookouts page files that item under Burch, but the paper spells the name Birch, so we have not confirmed the match. The sources we read name no later staff.

The second lookout was built in 1934.1,2,3 The register and Firelookout.com give it an L-4 cab on a 10-foot tower, while WillhiteWeb says the cab sat on a 15-foot tower.1,2,3 A 1950 Coast and Geodetic Survey description says the station was a 14-by-14-foot lookout house of the usual Forest Service design.4

The lookout burned in 1957. The register, Firelookout.com, the Forest Lookouts page and WillhiteWeb all call the fire accidental, and none describes it further.1,2,4,3 It was never replaced.1,3

WillhiteWeb's undated photo captions describe footings, an anchor and a good deal of rock work at the summit.3 We found no source that describes a standing structure there. At its end the Forest Service trail climbs a steep talus slope, and a side route to the summit is unmarked.5 The trail has gone without official upkeep for many years, and the Forest Service advises against stock use.5 Most trees along the trail's northern 1.5 miles died in the 2017 Diamond Creek Fire.5

  1. Burch Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/burch-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Burch Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/burchmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Burch Mountain Lookout Site, Pasayten Wilderness, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/pasayten_wilderness/burch_mountain_lookout/billy_goat_pass_065.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Burch Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/burch-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Burch Mountain Trail, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/okanogan-wenatchee/recreation/trails/burch-mountain-trail (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Burch Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Burch Mountain Lookout 1934
Burch Mountain Lookout 1934 (1934)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Burch Mountain Lookout
Burch Mountain LookoutPhoto: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Burch Mountain Lookout
Burch Mountain LookoutPhoto: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Burch Mountain Lookout
Burch Mountain LookoutPhoto: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Burch Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-3-1934 (N)
Burch Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-3-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Burch Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-3-1934 (SE)
Burch Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-3-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Burch Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-3-1934 (SW)
Burch Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-3-1934 (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, 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, 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.