Fire lookout · Kittitas County, Washington
Fish Lake Lookout Site
Also known as Fish Lake/Clark Lake
Kittitas County 40-ft pole L-4 tower built 1934 near the valley floor; removed or destroyed 1948; photo captions show footings and an anchor; walk-in via old road 6231.
- Gone
- Open to the public
- Verified
Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed or destroyed in 1948 (sources differ); Willhite photo captions label footings and an anchor; no source describes a standing tower
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. Walk-in on old road 6231 (about 0.3 miles) or a trail from the Fish Lake Guard Station; the Willhite page describes no closure. Public level is our inference from the directions, not a stated agency rule
- Road to the top?
- Unknown
- Trail
- Walk the old road 6231 about 0.3 miles (120 feet of gain per Willhite), or start from the Fish Lake Guard Station
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a tower40' pole L-4 towerThe design: L-4
- Built of
- Not recorded
- Built
- 1934
- Height
- Unknown
- Elevation
- 3,700 ft (1,128 m)
- Agency
- U.S. Forest Service, Wenatchee National Forest
- Land
- Federal land
- Location
- Kittitas County, Washington
- Coordinates
- 47.52170, −121.06948
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-wa-fish-lake
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 4.0 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
- 1933 StaffedDave McDonald, per firelookout.com only; a year before the 1934 build date on the same page, which the sources do not explainSource: firelookout.com
- 1934 Built40-foot pole L-4 tower built near the valley floor, per the register, firelookout.com and the Willhite pageSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
- 1948 Destroyedfirelookout.com and the Willhite page say destroyed in 1948; the register says removed that year (cite 1)Sources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
- No record between 1948 and 2012
- 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered October 20, 2012; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
Fish Lake Lookout stood in Kittitas County, Washington, on the Wenatchee National Forest, at about 3,700 feet, or 1,128 meters.1,2 Both the register and firelookout.com describe a 40-foot pole L-4 tower built in 1934 near the valley floor.1,2 The Willhite page gives the same design and calls the valley-floor site unique.3 Panorama photos dated August 16, 1934 are credited to the National Archives.1,4 The Willhite page also repeats an unverified online claim that an earlier lookout in this area, built in an avalanche zone, lasted only a year.3
The only lookout named in our sources is Dave McDonald, listed for 1933 on firelookout.com.2 That year falls before the 1934 build date on the same page, and the sources do not explain the gap.2
The sources agree the tower was gone by 1948.1,2,3 The register says it was removed that year, while firelookout.com and the Willhite page say it was destroyed.1,2,3
The Willhite page reports that forest now surrounds the old site.3 Its photo captions label footings and an anchor, and one shows a clearing in the trees that served as the lookout's parking area.3
The Willhite page gives directions by way of Exit 80 off I-90, north through Roslyn and Ronald to Salmon la Sac, then turning right on FR 4330 toward Tucquala Lake.3 The road is gravel and good for all vehicles.3 The old lookout road, Road 6231, was abandoned at its junction near the lake, and the page says to walk it about 0.3 miles to the site.3 Another route starts from the Fish Lake Guard Station, just down the hillside, where a trail heads up the hill.3 The register's 3,700 feet and the 3,460 feet in the Willhite access notes do not match.1,3
- Fish Lake Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/fish-lake-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Fish Lake Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/fishlake.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Fish Lake Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com: Fire Lookouts, http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/fish_lake/guard_station_216.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Fish Lake, Forest Lookouts (Washington), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/fish-lake.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
Photos
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
- Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) (opens another site) 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) 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
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page (opens another site) 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
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) (opens another site) 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
- WillhiteWeb.com: Washington Fire Lookouts (opens another site) 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
- 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
- FFLOS register entry US 1402 (firetower.org) (opens another site)
- FFLA Washington lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Fish Lake on firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra) (opens another site)
- Fish Lake on Forest Lookouts, western US (Ron Kemnow) (opens another site)
- Fish Lake/Clark Lake on WillhiteWeb.com Washington Fire Lookouts (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.