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Fire lookout · Stevens County, Washington

Calispell Peak Lookout Site

Stevens County, WA lookout: camp in 1920, cab in 1921, 40-ft tower in 1936, removed or destroyed in 1955; only radio towers reported on the summit now.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed or destroyed in 1955; the sources describe radio towers on the summit, not a lookout

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
Willhite: a four-wheel-drive road reaches the summit radio towers; access rules not stated

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower10x10 ft frame cab (1921); 40 ft pole L-4 tower (1936)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1921
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
6,855 ft (2,089 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Stevens County, Washington
Coordinates
48.43688, −117.50246
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-calispell-peak

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 3.6 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. 1920 EventLookout station established with a camp; a telephone line ran from the station to Locke (1919-20 state forester report)Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1921 Built10x10 ft frame cab built the year after the campSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1922 First staffedHarold Horton named as lookout (Spokane Chronicle, September 16, 1922); earliest named lookout in the sourcesSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1923 StaffedMr. Dunnigan named for 1923; 1923 photo caption calls him the lookoutmanSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1926 StaffedRobert C. Stegner (Spokane Daily Chronicle); Robert Stagner in Colville ExaminerSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1928 StaffedDorothy Robel listed for 1928-1929Source: firelookout.com
  7. 1930 StaffedRuth Downey named in a June 19, 1930 notice that she would be on guardSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1934 StaffedBill Crosset of Calispel lookout (Colville Examiner, September 8, 1934)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1936 Built40 ft pole L-4 tower builtSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  10. 1936 StaffedWyatt Moorhead listed for 1936Source: firelookout.com
  11. 1938 Last staffedElmer and George Davis spent the summer at the lookout (Newport Miner, September 8, 1938); last named staff in the sourcesSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  12. No record between 1938 and 1955
  13. 1955 RemovedRegister says removed; firelookout.com and Willhite say destroyed; Forest Lookouts says RemovedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  14. No record between 1955 and 2012
  15. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 23, 2012 as US 1486, WA 386; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  16. 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.

Calispell Peak is in Stevens County, Washington, in the Kaniksu/Colville National Forests, and the U.S. Forest Service administers the site.1 The lookout began as a camp in 1920, and a 10-by-10-foot frame cab went up the following year.1,2 The Washington State Forester's annual report for 1919 and 1920 said a telephone line ran from the station to Locke, but no building had been put up because money was short.3 A 40-foot pole L-4 tower followed in 1936.1,4,2

The sources name a string of lookouts. Harold Horton is listed as the lookout in September 1922.3 Mr. Dunnigan is named for 1923, and a photo caption from that year on Willhite's page calls him the lookoutman.4,2 Robert C. Stegner, also spelled Stagner in another paper, was the lookout in 1926.3 Dorothy Robel is named for 1928 and 1929, and Wyatt Moorhead for 1936.4 A June 1930 notice said Ruth Downey would be on guard, and a 1934 paper named Bill Crosset at the station.3 The brothers Elmer and George Davis spent a summer there in 1938, the last staff named in the sources we read.3

Sources disagree about how the 1936 tower ended. The register says it was removed in 1955, while firelookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed that year.1,4,2 A Forest Lookouts timeline gives 1955 as "Removed" and says nothing more.3

Willhite describes a four-wheel-drive road that reaches the summit radio towers, and says the summit sits above the main tree line.2 The sources we read do not describe a surviving lookout building, and they do not say whether the road or summit is open to the public.

  1. Calispell Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, Forest Fire Lookout Association, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/calispell-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Calispell Peak, Washington Prominence Peaks, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/calispell_peak/prominence_048.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Calispel Peak, Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (Washington), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/calispel-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Calispell Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/calispellpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Calispell Peak Lookout Site
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, 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, 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.