FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Whatcom County, Washington

Excelsior Point Lookout Site

Whatcom County lookout site on Damfino Ridge: an L-5 cab built in 1935, abandoned in 1968, and now gone. Reached on foot from the Mt. Baker Highway.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab abandoned in 1968 and now gone; the sources describe no surviving structure

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. Trailhead beside the Mt. Baker Highway is plowed; no closure described in the sources read

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Drive past Glacier on the Mt. Baker Highway to the trailhead on the left, shortly after the Nooksack Falls signs; then follow the trail to the ridge

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 cabThe design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,699 ft (1,737 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Whatcom County, Washington
Coordinates
48.93489, −121.79012
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-excelsior-point

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. 1935 BuiltL-5 cab; the sources do not name a builderSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1935 EventPanoramic photographs taken from the lookout roof on September 29, 1935Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1935 and 1968
  4. 1968 AbandonedCab abandoned in 1968Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1968 and 2011
  6. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 4, 2011 as FFLOS US 812Source: 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.

Excelsior Point is a bump on Damfino Ridge in Whatcom County, Washington, inside the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.1,2,3 A fire lookout, an L-5 cab, was built on the point in 1935.1,4,3 Panoramic photographs were taken from its roof on September 29, 1935.2,3 The panoramas are credited to the National Archives' Pacific Northwest region.1

The pages we read do not name anyone who staffed the lookout or any fire it watched.

The lookout was abandoned in 1968.1,4,3 The register now says the site is gone, and the Forest Lookouts list marks it as removed.1,2

WillhiteWeb says that little if anything exists at the site today.3 The same page adds that the 1935 panoramas still match the view today.3

You reach the point on foot. WillhiteWeb says the trailhead beside the Mt. Baker Highway is plowed, so the point can be reached year-round.3 To find the trailhead, continue past Glacier on the Mt. Baker Highway. It is on your left, a short way after the Nooksack Falls signs.3 From there, follow the trail to the ridge.3 The sources we read name no closure.

  1. Excelsior Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/excelsior-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Excelsior Point, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/excelsior-point.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Excelsior Point Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb: Washington Fire Lookouts, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/excelsior_point_lookout/damfino_ridge_199.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Excelsior Point Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/excelsiorpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Excelsior Point Lookout August 1960
Excelsior Point Lookout August 1960 (1960)Photo: Tod Files, Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
8/12/2001
8/12/2001 (2001)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Excelsior Point Lookout site August 2001
Excelsior Point Lookout site August 2001 (2001)Photo: Irene Potter, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Excelsior Point Lookout panoramic 9-29-35 (N)
Excelsior Point Lookout panoramic 9-29-35 (N)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Excelsior Point Lookout panoramic 9-29-35 (SE)
Excelsior Point Lookout panoramic 9-29-35 (SE)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Excelsior Point Lookout panoramic 9-29-35 (SW)
Excelsior Point Lookout panoramic 9-29-35 (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.