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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Dugout Mountain Lookout Site

Lookout south of Aeneas, built 1930 or 1931 (sources differ), used by the Aircraft Warning Service 1942-43, gone by the 1956 USGS visit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned in 1953; a 1956 USGS visit found the tower and house completely removed.

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?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,364 ft (1,635 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.49745, −118.96084
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-dugout-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 4.1 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. 1930 EventRepublic News-Miner item says a lookout fireman would be posted there, with horses for emergencies.Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1931 BuiltFormer Fire Lookout Sites register and firelookout.com date the L-4 cab to 1931; Willhite gives 1930; a September 1930 newspaper item describes construction under way.Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com, firetower.org
  3. 1934 EventPanorama photos taken at the site on September 15, 1934.Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1936 EventUSGS placed a benchmark there, calling it a high wooded peak with a lookout.Source: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service post, active March 27, 1942 to July 1, 1943; Seattle Filter Center.Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. 1953 AbandonedSources: willhiteweb.com, firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. 1956 RemovedUSGS visit found the lookout tower and house completely removed; the removal date is not given.Source: willhiteweb.com
  8. No record between 1956 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 11, 2012.Source: 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.

Dugout Mountain, south of Aeneas, got a lookout around 1930.1,2,3,4 The Republic News-Miner reported in September 1930 that a crew under an assistant forest supervisor was building it to watch a southern area that had been out of view.1,2 The same item said a lookout fireman would be posted there, with horses for emergencies.1

Sources disagree on the year. The Former Fire Lookout Sites register and firelookout.com date the L-4 cab to 1931, while Willhite gives 1930.3,4,2 Firelookout.com places the site in the Okanogan National Forest, while Willhite says it was in the Colville National Forest.4,2 Willhite also reports panoramic photos taken at the site on September 15, 1934.2

During World War II the Aircraft Warning Service used the summit daily from March 27, 1942 until July 1, 1943, and Willhite names two of the 1942 observers.2 The Washington Lookouts page gives the same dates and lists the Seattle Filter Center.1

Willhite says the lookout was abandoned in 1953.2 In 1956 the USGS visited its benchmark, placed there in 1936, and reported the tower and house completely removed.2 The register and firelookout.com both record the lookout as abandoned and gone.3,4

None of these sources describes what remains on the summit today, or whether the public can reach it. The 1956 USGS visit is the latest dated observation of the site's condition in these sources.

  1. Dugout Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/dugout-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Dugout Mountain Fire Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/dugout_mountain/lookout_086.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Dugout Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/dugout-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Dugout Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/dugoutmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Dugout Mountain Lookout (no date)
Dugout Mountain Lookout (no date)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Dugout Mountain Lookout (no date)
Dugout Mountain Lookout (no date)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Dugout Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-15-1934 (N)
Dugout Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-15-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Dugout Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-15-1934 (SE)
Dugout Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-15-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Dugout Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-15-1934 (SW)
Dugout Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-15-1934 (SW) (1934)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, 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.