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Fire lookout · King County, Washington

Colquhoun Mountain Lookout Site

Also known as Colquhoun Peak

King County, WA L-4 cab on Colquhoun Peak, built in the 1930s, a WWII Aircraft Warning station, gone by 1958; summit now overgrown, no remains described.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab gone by 1958 (register says removed, others say destroyed); no remains described 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. About 0.5 mile one way from a gravel road (WillhiteWeb); no closure or official access statement found in the sources read

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
About 0.5 mile one way with 600 feet of gain from a gravel road (WillhiteWeb); blog calls it Colquhoun Peak Trail 1195

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,173 ft (1,577 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
King County, Washington
Coordinates
47.12899, −121.46127
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-colquhoun-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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

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. 1932 EventBoard on Geographic Names approved the petition to rename Jackknife as Colquhoun Peak (October 5, 1932)Source: wrylyriley3.wordpress.com
  2. 1943 EventAircraft Warning Service summer station, inactivated October 16, 1943Sources: willhiteweb.com, wrylyriley3.wordpress.com
  3. No record between 1943 and 1958
  4. 1958 DestroyedCab gone by 1958: destroyed per FireLookout.com, WillhiteWeb and the blog; the register says removedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1958 and 2010
  6. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 11, 2010 as FFLOS US 796Source: firetower.org
  7. Date unknown BuiltBuilt in the 1930s as an L-4 cab; no exact year in the sources readSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.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.

Colquhoun Mountain, also called Colquhoun Peak, rises to 5,173 feet (1,577 meters) in King County, Washington, on the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.1,2 Sources tie its name to Carl Colquhoun, a young packer and lookout worker who drowned.3,4 WillhiteWeb dates his drowning to 1933, while the blog dates it to 1931.3,4

The lookout was an L-4 cab, put up in the 1930s.1,2,3 The blog says the Board on Geographic Names approved the petition to rename the peak on October 5, 1932.4

During World War II the cab served as an Aircraft Warning Service station, and its observers had to stay at their posts for hours on end.3,4

WillhiteWeb says the station ran as a summer post and was inactivated on October 16, 1943.3 The blog gives the same end date.4

By 1958 the cab was gone.1,2,3,4 The register says it was removed that year, while FireLookout.com, WillhiteWeb and the blog say it was destroyed.1,2,3,4

No source we read describes footings or any other remains on the summit. WillhiteWeb says trees are now growing over the top, though cliffs still give views.3 The blog calls the summit unoccupied and the view overgrown.4 The trail to the top is about half a mile one way from a gravel road.3

  1. Colquhoun Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/colquhoun-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Colquhoun Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/colquhoun.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Colquhoun Peak - Greenwater Hiking Trails, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/colquhoun_peak/greenwater_trails_338.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. The Sad Story of Carl Colquhoun, Tales From the Plateau, https://wrylyriley3.wordpress.com/2025/06/23/the-sad-story-of-carl-colquhoun/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Colquhoun Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Colquhoun Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Colquhoun Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Colquhoun Mountain Lookout panoramic 7-12-38 (N)
Colquhoun Mountain Lookout panoramic 7-12-38 (N)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Colquhoun Mountain Lookout panoramic 7-12-38 (SE)
Colquhoun Mountain Lookout panoramic 7-12-38 (SE)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Colquhoun Mountain Lookout panoramic 7-12-38 (SW)
Colquhoun Mountain Lookout panoramic 7-12-38 (SW)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. 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
  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.