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Fire lookout · Whatcom County, Washington

Devils Dome Lookout Site

Whatcom County, WA summit cab built on rocks in 1933, abandoned 1968 and gone; Forest Service land reached by a permitted backcountry hike; no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned 1968; register and firelookout.com say gone; no source describes what remains on 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. Summit reached on foot by a backcountry loop from Highway 20 trailheads; WTA lists a fee-based camping permit and a free self-issued wilderness permit

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Lookout is gone; site is a few hundred feet off the trail at the very summit (Willhite); loop given as 40 miles by Willhite and 43.0 miles by WTA

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 cab built on rocks at the summit in 1933The design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,982 ft (2,128 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Whatcom County, Washington
Coordinates
48.82397, −120.91669
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-devils-dome

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 3.9 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. 1933 BuiltL-5 cab built on the rocks at the summit; builder not namedSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1935 EventPanoramic photos taken from the ground on August 7, 1935; credited to the National Archives Pacific Northwest RegionSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1935 and 1968
  4. 1968 AbandonedAbandoned in 1968 per register, firelookout.com and WillhiteSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1968 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered March 26, 2012; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  7. 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.

Devils Dome is a summit in Whatcom County, about nine miles northeast of Ross Dam.1,2

The land lies in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and the U.S. Forest Service administered the lookout.1

An L-5 cab was built on the rocks at the summit in 1933.1,3

Panoramic photos taken from the ground on August 7, 1935 are credited to the National Archives' Pacific Northwest Region.1,3

Barney Douglass spent two summers on the summit, according to Willhite, who gives no years.3

The cab was abandoned in 1968.1,2,3 The register and firelookout.com both list it as gone.1,2

Willhite places the site a few hundred feet off the trail, at the summit itself.3 The sources we read do not describe what remains there today.

Reaching it means a hike, and Willhite describes two trailheads on Highway 20.3

Willhite calls the loop 40 miles, while the Washington Trails Association lists it at 43.0 miles round trip.3,4

The WTA lists a backcountry camping permit with a fee, plus a wilderness permit that hikers issue themselves at the trailhead at no cost.4

  1. Devils Dome Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/devils-dome-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Devils Dome Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/devilsdome.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Devils Dome Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/devils_dome_lookout/psayten_wilderness_054.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Devil's Dome Loop, Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/devils-dome (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Devils Dome Lookout panoramic 8-7-35 (N)
Devils Dome Lookout panoramic 8-7-35 (N)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Devils Dome Lookout panoramic 8-7-35 (SE)
Devils Dome Lookout panoramic 8-7-35 (SE)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Devils Dome Lookout panoramic 8-7-35 (SW)
Devils Dome Lookout panoramic 8-7-35 (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. 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.