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Fire lookout · Chelan County, Washington

Duncan Hill Lookout Site

Ground site on Duncan Hill near Entiat: 1923 cabin, L-4 cab built 1935, cab removed or destroyed in 1967; trails open to hikers.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed or destroyed in 1967; sources differ on which. Willhite notes a photo captioned built up lookout platform.

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. Reached by Forest Service roads and two maintained trails; no closure is mentioned in these sources.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Two well-maintained trails, 6 miles one way with 3,000 ft gain; lower trailhead about 34 miles up the Entiat River Road, then 6 miles on FR-5608 (Willhite).

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
1923
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,819 ft (2,383 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Chelan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.05453, −120.65389
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-duncan-hill

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. 1923 BuiltA cabin was placed on Duncan Hill; the 1935 L-4 cab replaced it.Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1933 StaffedFirelookout.com lists H. Johnson as known lookout personnel in 1933.Source: firelookout.com
  3. 1934 EventPanoramic images taken from the roof, 17 feet above ground; Washington Lookouts dates the panorama photos to September 6, 1934.Sources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1935 BuiltL-4 cab built on the southerly summit.Sources: firelookout.com, firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1935 and 1967
  6. 1967 RemovedRegistry says the cab was removed; firelookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed.Sources: firelookout.com, firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1967 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered August 22, 2012.Source: firetower.org
  9. 2015 FireWillhite says a fire in 2015 damaged the area.Source: willhiteweb.com
  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.

Duncan Hill sits about 30 miles northwest of Entiat, in Wenatchee National Forest and Chelan County.1 A cabin was placed on the hill in 1923, and an L-4 cab went up on its southerly summit in 1935 to replace it.2,3

Willhite says panoramic images were taken from the roof in 1934, 17 feet above the ground.3 The Washington Lookouts page dates the panorama photos to September 6, 1934.4

Firelookout.com names H. Johnson as known lookout personnel in 1933.1

The registry says the cab was removed in 1967.2 Firelookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed that year.1,3 The sources agree on the year but not on how the cab ended.1,2,3

Willhite says a 2015 fire damaged the area, though some pockets of forest survived.3 Willhite lists two well-maintained trails, a six-mile one-way hike with 3,000 feet of gain.3 To reach the lower trailhead, drive about 34 miles up the Entiat River Road, then turn onto FR-5608 for six miles. Willhite describes the forest road as in good shape, passable for most cars.3

The only item on Willhite's page about possible remains is a photo captioned "Built up lookout platform," with no date given.3 No source describes the summit beyond that.

  1. Duncan Hill Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/duncanhill.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Duncan Hill Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/duncan-hill-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Duncan Hill Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/duncan_hill_lookout/entiat_river_093.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Duncan Hill - Forest Lookouts, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/duncan-hill.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Duncan Hill 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, 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.