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Fire lookout · Skamania County, Washington

Council Bluff Lookout Site

Also known as Council Bluff/Butte

Ground L-4 cab built 1931-32 on Council Bluff, Skamania County; gone by the 1960s or earlier (sources differ); no remains described; hike from Council Lake.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed or destroyed; sources differ on whether it went in the 1950s or the 1960s

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. National Forest land reached on foot; Willhite describes a 1.5-mile hike that can start at Council Lake Campground

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
About 1.5 miles and 950 feet of climbing per Willhite; the old road now makes a hike

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab on a ground house with a gable roofThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,180 ft (1,579 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Skamania County, Washington
Coordinates
46.27172, −121.63789
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-council-bluff

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. 1931 BuiltMaterials packed in July 1931; Willhite says built 1931 and 1932Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 EventPanorama photographs taken from the groundSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1943 StaffedFrancis (Pitman) McMahan and Gena Hickey manned the stationSource: willhiteweb.com
  4. 1950 AbandonedWillhite: likely abandoned in the 1950s; decade only, no exact year givenSource: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1960 RemovedFiretower.org: removed in the 1960s; decade only, no exact year givenSource: firetower.org
  6. 1964 DestroyedA survey party reported it demolished; destruction date unknown, before 1964Source: willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1964 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: June 23, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  9. 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.

Council Bluff is a summit in Skamania County, Washington, at 5,180 feet (1,579 meters).1 A lookout went up there in the 1930s.1 A 1931 newspaper item, quoted on the Washington Lookouts site, reported that Jim Green and John Peters, Jr. were packing in the material for a lookout house on the bluff.2 Willhite's history says the lookout was built in 1931 and 1932. It was a gable-roofed L-4 cab on the ground, not on a tower.3

The first lookout was Clarence McMahan.3 Willhite also reports a panorama taken from the ground in 1934, and says Francis (Pitman) McMahan and Gena Hickey manned the station in 1943.3

The sources disagree about how the cab ended. Willhite thinks it was probably abandoned in the 1950s, and that a survey party later reported it demolished, with the loss before 1964.3 Firetower.org says it was removed in the 1960s, and FireLookout.com says it was destroyed in that decade.1,4

The sources do not describe what, if anything, is left on the summit today. Willhite's photos from 2018 show the site looking north, but his text does not mention footings or a foundation.3

The land is National Forest, and the summit is reached on foot. Willhite describes a hike of 1.5 miles with 950 feet of climbing, and says the trip can start right from the Council Lake campground.1,3

  1. Council Bluff Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/council-bluff-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Council Bluff - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/council-bluff.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Council Bluff Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/council_bluff_lookout/gifford_pinchot_312.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Council Bluff Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/councilbluff.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Council Bluff Lookout 1936
Council Bluff Lookout 1936 (1936)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Council Bluff Lookout 1936
Council Bluff Lookout 1936 (1936)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via 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, 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.