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Fire lookout · Skagit County, Washington

Finney Peak Lookout Site

Finney Peak's 1933 L-4 cab was abandoned in 1965 and reported destroyed by 1983; the road and trail are now overgrown.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab abandoned in 1965; a 1983 USGS visit reported the lookout house destroyed.

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
Trail
Willhite's 2023 account: road choked with alder and washed out; route about 4.5 miles one way with 2,500 ft gain.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab; described in 1950 as a standard 14-foot square building painted whiteThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,084 ft (1,550 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Skagit County, Washington
Coordinates
48.38070, −121.74566
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-finney-peak

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. 1933 BuiltL-4 cabSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. No record between 1933 and 1950
  3. 1950 Condition assessmentUSGS visit describes the lookout house as a standard 14-foot square building painted whiteSource: willhiteweb.com
  4. 1953 StaffedRodger Harding listed as the lookoutSource: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1965 AbandonedAbandoned in 1965 per both sourcesSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1965 and 1983
  7. 1983 DestroyedUSGS helicopter visit found the lookout house destroyedSource: willhiteweb.com
  8. No record between 1983 and 2020
  9. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: February 13, 2020Source: FFLOS register entry
  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.

Finney Peak got an L-4 cab in 1933, according to both the register and a Willhite page.1,2 In late August 1935, panoramic photos were taken from the roof.1,2 The register credits them to the National Archives' Pacific Northwest Region and dates them 29 August, while Willhite captions one as 28 August.1,2

A 1950 USGS visit called the lookout house a standard building, 14 feet square and painted white.2 Willhite's page names Rodger Harding as the lookout in 1953 and links to an interview with him.2 The cab was abandoned in 1965.1,2 A USGS helicopter visit in 1983 found the lookout house destroyed.2 The register says only that the lookout is gone.1

Today the approach is harder than it once was. Willhite writes that the trail stayed in guidebooks for years and then dropped out, that alder trees choke the road for well over a mile, and that a road washout has pushed the access further back.2 His route figures are 4.5 miles one way and 2,500 feet of climb.2 The header on the same page lists "Good gravel roads," which does not match the text.2 The summit has survey benchmarks, but no source here describes what, if anything, remains of the lookout, and none says whether the public may use the road.2,1

  1. Finney Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, firetower.org, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/finney-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Finney Peak Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/finney_peak_lookout/finney_point_064.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Finney Peak Lookout panoramic 8-29-35 (N)
Finney Peak Lookout panoramic 8-29-35 (N)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Finney Peak Lookout panoramic 8-29-35 (SE)
Finney Peak Lookout panoramic 8-29-35 (SE)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Finney Peak Lookout panoramic 8-29-35 (SW)
Finney Peak Lookout panoramic 8-29-35 (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. 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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.