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Fire lookout · Mason County, Washington

Dennie Ahl Lookout Site

Mason County, WA Olympic National Forest lookout built 1943 and taken down in 1971; concrete slabs and footings are all the sources describe on site.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Taken down in 1971; sources describe concrete slabs and footings on the summit

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?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Gravel and dirt forest roads from Highway 101 along FR 23, FR 2340 and FR 200; Willhite Web advises a higher-clearance vehicle

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerTimber tower with an L-4 cab, built 1943; height given as 30 feet (register, firelookout.com) or 40 feet (Willhite Web)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1943
Height
Unknown
Elevation
2,004 ft (611 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Olympic National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Mason County, Washington
Coordinates
47.40150, −123.26831
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-dennie-ahl

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 4.2 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. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service station activated June 23, 1942 (Olympia Filter Center)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1943 BuiltLookout tower built on Gibbons Ridge; 30-foot L-4 tower per register and firelookout.com, 40-foot per Willhite WebSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1956 StaffedShelton District reports the Dennie Ahl Lookout is being manned (May 18, 1956 item)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1956 and 1971
  5. 1971 DestroyedLookout taken down; register says removed, firelookout.com and Willhite Web say destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. 1972 EventUSGS party reports monument tops broken off and disks missingSource: willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1972 and 2011
  8. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: November 27, 2011Source: 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.

The Dennie Ahl lookout stood in Mason County, Washington, in the Olympic National Forest.1,2

The Aircraft Warning Service activated the site on June 23, 1942, and a tower was built there in 1943.3 The register and firelookout.com describe a 30-foot treated timber L-4 tower.1,2 Willhite Web describes a 40-foot timber tower with an L-4 cab on Gibbons Ridge, so the height is disputed.4

The Aircraft Warning Service first called the site Dry Creek and then Gibbons.4 Simpson Logging gave the finished tower the name Dennie Ahl, after John "Dennie" Ahl, a Forest Service log scaler.4 Sources disagree on how he died. Willhite Web says he had a fatal heart attack in 1944 after his crew corralled a lightning fire.4 The Forest Lookouts page says he died of heart failure while rowing across Lake Cushman to service a fire crew.3

The Shelton District reported in May 1956 that the lookout was manned, with extra district staff on standby.3

The tower was taken down in 1971. The register says it was removed, while firelookout.com and Willhite Web say it was destroyed.1,2,4

Willhite Web says little remains on the summit besides squared concrete slabs and footings.4 The footings were shoved over the edge into the timber to the west, and a trail down the east ridge leads to the old toilet.4 A 1972 USGS party found that the tops had snapped off the survey monuments and the disks were gone.4

Willhite Web rates the access road as gravel and dirt and advises a higher-clearance vehicle. Its route runs from Highway 101 along Forest Service roads FR 23, FR 2340 and FR 200.4 We found no source saying whether the summit is open to visitors today.

  1. Dennie Ahl Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/dennie-ahl-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Dennie Ahl Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/dennieahl.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Dennie Ahl - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (Rex's Fire Lookout Page), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/dennie-ahl.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Dennie Ahl Lookout - Mason County Fire, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/dennie_ahl_lookout/mason_county_419.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Dennie Ahl Lookout Site
Photo: 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. 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, staffing, 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.