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Fire lookout · King County, Washington

Christoff Lookout Site

Also known as Christoff (Huckleberry)

Christoff L-5 cab on Huckleberry Mountain near Greenwater, King County, Washington; removed or destroyed in 1958; reached today by Forest Service Trail 1171.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed or destroyed in 1958, depending on the source

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 by Forest Service Trail 1171; part of the route crosses private clear-cut land, which the blog says is a public easement

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Hike on Forest Service Trail 1171 from the gated trailhead off Slippery Creek Road; the trail is open to motorcycles but not other OHVs

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 cabThe design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,764 ft (1,452 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
King County, Washington
Coordinates
47.17952, −121.61411
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-christoff

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.7 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 page lists panorama photos taken August 13, 1934; the blog gives 1934 as the build yearSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, wrylyriley3.wordpress.com
  2. 1935 BuiltL-5 cab constructed, per the register and firelookout.com; the blog gives 1934Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, wrylyriley3.wordpress.com
  3. No record between 1935 and 1958
  4. 1958 RemovedThe register says removed; firelookout.com and the blog say destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, wrylyriley3.wordpress.com
  5. No record between 1958 and 2010
  6. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered October 17, 2010 on the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterSource: firetower.org
  7. 2012 EventBlog author reached the old lookout site via Divide Ridge Trail 1172Source: wrylyriley3.wordpress.com
  8. 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.

The Christoff lookout was an L-5 cab on the summit of Huckleberry Mountain, just above the town of Greenwater in King County, Washington.1,2 The blog says it was first called Huckleberry Lookout, and that the Christoff name came from a disused ranger station at the trail's base, adopted to avoid confusion with another Huckleberry Mountain Lookout on the Mineral District.2

Sources differ on the year it went up. The Former Fire Lookout Sites register and firelookout.com both give 1935.1,3 The blog says 1934, and a Forest Lookouts page lists panorama photos taken on August 13, 1934.2,4

The register says the cab was removed in 1958, while firelookout.com and the blog say it was destroyed that year.1,3,2

The Forest Service says Christoff Trail 1171 leads to the site of an old, abandoned fire lookout on Huckleberry Mountain.5 The directions run east on State Highway 410 to Slippery Creek Road, then along spur roads, with the last stretch on a gated road for about a mile to the trailhead.5

Part of the route runs through a fresh clear-cut on private land, though the blog says the trail sits on a public easement.5,2 The Forest Service lists the trail as open to motorcycles but not to other off-highway vehicles.5

The blog author reached the old lookout site on September 17, 2012, and found it.2 The register says the site itself looks south toward Mount Rainier, and the Forest Service says the climb rewards hikers with the White River valley and Mount Rainier in view.1,5

None of the written sources we read describes what, if anything, remains of the cab.

  1. Christoff Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/christoff-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Christoff, Tales From the Plateau (blog), https://wrylyriley3.wordpress.com/2025/11/23/christoff/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Christoff Fire Lookout Cabin, Fire Lookout, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/christoff.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Christoff, Forest Lookouts (Washington), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/christoff.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Christoff Trail 1171, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mbs/recreation/trails/christoff-trail-1171 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Christoff Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Christoff Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Christoff Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Christoff Lookout 1940
Christoff Lookout 1940 (1940)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, 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: 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, 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.