FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Skamania County, Washington

Dog Mountain Lookout Site

1931 L-4 lookout on Dog Mountain's south shoulder, replaced by a second cab in 1953 and removed in 1967; a concrete anchor block remains beside the public trail.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1967 (dismantled, removed or destroyed, depending on the source). A concrete block that anchored the lookout is the only remains reported.

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. The site lies beside the popular Dog Mountain Trail, which starts on the north side of Route 14 at milepost 53.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
A 6-mile trail from Route 14 at milepost 53 leads to the former site on the south shoulder of the summit.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabGable-roofed L-4 cab with windows on three sides (1931), replaced by a second L-4 cab (1953)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
2,480 ft (756 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Skamania County, Washington
Coordinates
45.71268, −121.69905
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-dog-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 3.5 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 BuiltGable-roofed L-4 cab with windows on three sides, built to watch for fires across the river in Oregon.Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, en.wikipedia.org
  2. 1938 StaffedA Columbia National Forest employee was stationed alone at the lookout when a rattlesnake bit him; he recovered.Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1938 and 1953
  4. 1953 Replaced by a new structureSecond L-4 cab. Wikipedia gives 1952; a historical report quoted on Washington Lookouts has an entry dated February 8, 1954.Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1967 RemovedDismantled (Wikipedia), removed (FFLOS register) or destroyed (firelookout.com, WillhiteWeb).Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1967 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: June 23, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  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.

Dog Mountain rises from the north bank of the Columbia River Gorge, and a fire lookout went up on its south shoulder in 1931.1,2 It was put up to watch for blazes on the Oregon shore.1,2 The first cab was an L-4 with a gable roof and windows on three walls, sited a quarter mile from the top, on the south side.3,4

Mount Hood National Forest personnel ran the station, although the peak lies within Gifford Pinchot National Forest.2 The FFLOS register says that in later years the lookout was staffed for its view across the Columbia.3

In 1938 a 21-year-old Columbia National Forest employee was stationed alone at the lookout when a rattlesnake bit him.5,4 He gave himself first aid while alone, waiting for a pack horse, and was taken down by horse and car.5 WillhiteWeb says he recovered.4

A second L-4 cab replaced the first, and sources disagree on the year.3,4 The FFLOS register, WillhiteWeb and the hiking blog give 1953.3,4,2 Wikipedia says the lookout was reconstructed in 1952.1 A historical report quoted on the Washington Lookouts page has an entry dated February 8, 1954, that reads "Dog Mtn L.O. Erected."5

The lookout came down in 1967.1 Wikipedia says it was taken apart after roads and planes made it obsolete.1 The FFLOS register calls it removed,3 while firelookout.com and WillhiteWeb say it was destroyed.6,4

Today the site lies beside the Dog Mountain Trail, a popular six-mile hike that starts from Route 14 at milepost 53.1 Hikers can walk to the old lookout spot on the summit's south shoulder.2 The blog's author describes one remnant, a concrete block that once held the lookout in place.2

  1. Dog Mountain, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_Mountain (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Doggin' It in The Flowers Atop Dog Mountain, Meandering Through the Prologue, https://meaderingthroughtheprologue.com/doggin-it-in-the-flowers-atop-dog-mountain/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Dog Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/dog-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Dog Mountain Fire Lookout - Columbia River Gorge, WillhiteWeb, http://www.willhiteweb.com/columbia_river_gorge/dog_mountain_trail/lookout_382.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Dog Mountain, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/dog-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Dog Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/dogmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Dog Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1933
1933 (1933)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, 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.