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Fire lookout · Lewis County, Washington

Dry Creek Lookout Site

Lewis County, WA: 1935 L-5 cab and 1947 20-foot L-4 tower, last structure removed 1966; both footings remain, reached by a 3.5-mile open trail.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Last structure removed in 1966; Willhite says both footings still remain

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. Dry Creek Trail from FR20 (Smith Creek Road); Willhite says it is open to motorcycles, hikers, horses, and bicycles

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Willhite: 3.5-mile trail; take Highway 12 west 4 miles from Packwood to FR20 (Smith Creek Road), then follow it 0.3 miles to the Dry Creek Trail sign. The trail crosses Dry Creek on a log early on.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower1935 L-5 cab, then a 20-foot timber tower with L-4 cab in 1947The designs: L-4, L-5
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,815 ft (1,163 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Lewis County, Washington
Coordinates
46.54395, −121.71132
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-dry-creek

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 3.3 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. 1935 BuiltFirst structure, an L-5 cabSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1936 EventPanoramic photos taken at 16 feet above groundSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1947 Built20-foot timber tower with L-4 cab on topSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1954 StaffedHeavy snow; Dry Creek was the first Packwood District lookout to openSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1956 ClosedLocked up for the season by assistant Ranger Jack Fowler; last Packwood District lookout to closeSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1960 StaffedManned June 13 after two weeks of dry weather; the fire watcher was brought back down when wet weather returnedSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1966 RemovedLast structure removedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  8. No record between 1966 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered June 23, 2012 as US 1314, WA 214; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  10. 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.

Dry Creek Lookout stood in Lewis County, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, at 3,815 feet.1,2 Sources put it four to five miles from Packwood.3 A 1960 newspaper said four miles west, and a 1956 article said five miles south.3

The first structure went up in 1935 as an L-5 cab.4,2,1 Willhite says panoramic photos were taken from 16 feet above the ground in 1936.4 In 1947 a 20-foot timber tower with an L-4 cab on top was built.4,1,2

Heavy snow in 1954 lasted into July, and Dry Creek, at low elevation, was the first Packwood District lookout to open.4,3 In 1956 assistant Ranger Jack Fowler locked up the lookout for the season, the last one in the district to close.3,4 In June 1960 the lookout was manned on June 13 after two weeks of dry weather. Wet weather returned, and the fire watcher was brought back down.4

The last structure was removed in 1966.4 Firelookout.com and the Register both list the lookout as gone that year, and the Forest Lookouts page lists it as removed.2,1,3

Today, Willhite says both footings from the two structures are still there.4 His photo captions mention large anchor bolts in the cliffs below the site, burned batteries, and fencing left near the summit.4

To reach the trail, drive Highway 12 west from Packwood for four miles to FR20, Smith Creek Road.4 Follow it 0.3 miles to a sign for the Dry Creek Trail and some parking on the side.4 Willhite gives the trail as 3.5 miles and says it is open to motorcycles, hikers, horses, and bicycles.4 Early on, the trail crosses Dry Creek on a log.4

  1. Dry Creek Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register (firetower.org), http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/dry-creek-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Dry Creek Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/drycreek.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Dry Creek - Forest Lookouts, Washington forest lookouts website, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/dry-creek.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Dry Creek Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/dry_creek/lookout_site_090.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Dry Creek Lookout 1933
Dry Creek Lookout 1933 (1933)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Dry Creek Lookout panoramic 8-19-1936 (N)
Dry Creek Lookout panoramic 8-19-1936 (N) (1936)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Dry Creek Lookout panoramic 8-19-1936 (SE)
Dry Creek Lookout panoramic 8-19-1936 (SE) (1936)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Dry Creek Lookout panoramic 8-19-1936 (SW)
Dry Creek Lookout panoramic 8-19-1936 (SW) (1936)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Dry Creek Lookout site
Dry Creek Lookout sitePhoto: Eric Willhite, 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, 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.