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Fire lookout · Chelan County, Washington

Chelan Butte Lookout Site

Chelan County, WA: 40-ft pole L-4 lookout on Chelan Butte, dated 1936 or 1938 by source, replaced 1939, moved to the Columbia Breaks center in 1995.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at CBFIC

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. The timber tower moved to the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center in 1995; the association lists the original tower as gone

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. The center's lookouts are open inside only during center events or by special arrangement; the original summit is not described today

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a tower40-ft pole tower with L-4 cab, replaced in 1939 by a 28-ft treated timber tower with L-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1936
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,835 ft (1,169 m)
Agency
U.S.Forest Service/Washington Dept. of Natural Resources
Land
Unknown
Location
Chelan County, Washington
Coordinates
47.80699, −120.03412
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-chelan-butte

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at a typical height for a lookout like it.

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. 1936 BuiltFirst tower, a 40-ft pole tower with an L-4 cab, per the register and FireLookout.comSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1937 Staffed1937 newspaper item quoted on Washington Lookouts: Marvin Kelly at the new station, cabin still being builtSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1938 BuiltNRHP: a Civilian Conservation Corps crew led by Sim Beeson built the road to the site in 1938, so the tower and cabin could followSource: npgallery.nps.gov
  4. 1938 StaffedMac McFadden listed as lookout 1938-1940Source: firelookout.com
  5. 1939 Replaced by a new structureReplaced by a 28-ft treated timber tower with L-4 cabSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1939 and 1963
  7. 1963 FireA fire ran over the butte and burned under the tower; the Forest Service lookout stayed at his postSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1963 and 1990
  9. 1990 Listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesListed December 27, 1990; the nomination describes the lookout at the summit on state landSource: npgallery.nps.gov
  10. 1995 MovedMoved to the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center, a mile north of EntiatSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, columbiabreakswildfire.com
  11. No record between 1995 and 2012
  12. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register August 21, 2012Source: firetower.org
  13. Date unknown BurnedThe first 40-ft pole tower burned down; the year is not givenSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  14. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to CBFIC.Source: FFLA
  15. Date unknown Last staffedStaffed sporadically into the 1990sSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  16. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

Chelan Butte lies in Chelan County, Washington. Its summit lookout was a timber tower, and that tower was moved away in 1995.1,2 FireLookout.com puts the butte two miles south of Chelan, while a 1963 newspaper item quoted on Washington Lookouts says it is seven miles south of town.2,3

The register says the first tower on the butte was a 40-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab, built in 1936, and that it later burned down.1 A 28-foot tower of treated timber, with an L-4 cab, replaced it in 1939.1,2 The National Register nomination says a Civilian Conservation Corps crew led by Sim Beeson built the road to the site in 1938, so the tower and cabin could follow.4 A 1937 newspaper item quoted on Washington Lookouts names Marvin Kelly at a new station on the butte, where the cabin was still being built.3 The sources disagree on the first build year, and we could not decide which is right.

FireLookout.com lists Mac McFadden as the lookout from 1938 to 1940.2 The register says the tower had only sporadic staffing into the 1990s.1 In October 1963 a fire swept over the butte and burned beneath the tower, yet the Forest Service lookout stayed at his post, according to the same newspaper item.3

Both the register and FireLookout.com date the tower's move to 1995, when it went to the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center, about a mile north of Entiat.1,2 Before that move, the National Register nomination (listed December 27, 1990) placed the lookout on the summit, on state-held ground inside the Chelan Butte Wildlife Recreation Area.4

The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists the original tower as gone and the relocated tower as standing at the center.5 The center says its lookouts were brought in from other sites, and that people can go inside them only at center events or by prior arrangement.6 We found no source that describes what, if anything, remains on the summit today.4,5 If you want to see the tower, go to the center and check with them first.

  1. Chelan Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/chelan-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Chelan Butte Fire Lookout Tower, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/chelanbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Chelan Butte - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/chelan-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Chelan Butte Lookout, National Register of Historic Places nomination (NRIS 90001912), National Park Service, https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/90001912.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Washington lookout list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wa/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. CBFIC - Lookouts, Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center, https://www.columbiabreakswildfire.com/explore/lookouts (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Chelan Butte Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1938
1938 (1938)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1995
1995 (1995)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, 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, 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

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