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Fire lookout · Chelan County, Washington

Flattop Mountain Lookout (now at CBFIC)

Also known as CBFIC, East Flattop Lookout

Prototype 1946 Flattop Mountain cab, dismantled and moved to the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center in Entiat; sources disagree on the move date and on whether it is a replica.

Original site: Flattop Mountain Lookout

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. Original cab dismantled and moved to CBFIC in Entiat; the Entiat structure is a rebuild with some original wood, which SummitPost and WillhiteWeb call a replica and which is one story rather than two

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. CBFIC is a public fire interpretive center at 15212 Highway 97A, Entiat (CBFIC page; SummitPost). No source read says whether the rebuilt cab can be entered.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Interpretive trails and signs on the CBFIC site (SummitPost)
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Moved sources disagree
Type
Ground-level cabPrototype two-story frame cab with slanted windows and curved hip roof, built 1946; sources give 14x14 ft (WillhiteWeb, FireLookout.com) or 12x12 ft (NHLR)
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1946
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (original cab); Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center (current site)
Land
Unknown
Location
Chelan County, Washington
Coordinates
47.69495, −120.21034
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 10 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-flattop-mountain-at-cbfic

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.8 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. 1946 BuiltPrototype two-story cab built for the Forest Service by the Alladin Company of Portland, Oregon (WillhiteWeb)Sources: willhiteweb.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1952 StaffedMr. and Mrs. Ernest Fiedler named as lookouts; they went to teaching jobs when school started, and Forest Couch took over for the rest of the seasonSource: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1960 AbandonedThe summit site was abandonedSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. No record between 1960 and 2005
  5. 2005 Condition assessmentNHLR visit report dated May 15, 2005: building neglected, hole in the roof, several stair steps missingSource: nhlr.org
  6. 2005 MovedForest Fire Lookout Association dismantled the east cab and moved it to CBFIC in Entiat, per FireLookout.com and WillhiteWeb. The Former Fire Lookout Sites register instead says disassembled by 2025Sources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com, firetower.org
  7. 2009 RebuiltReconstruction at CBFIC began October 2009 and was completed in spring 2010 as a one-story building (SummitPost gives both dates)Source: summitpost.org
  8. No record between 2009 and 2025
  9. 2025 RemovedFormer Fire Lookout Sites register lists the original tower as removed by 2025 and disassembledSource: firetower.org
  10. Date unknown MovedMoved from Flattop to CBFIC.Source: FFLA
  11. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from.

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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The prototype cab that once sat on Flattop Mountain, in Washington's Gifford Pinchot National Forest, now stands at the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center (CBFIC) in Entiat, as a rebuilt structure.1,2,3

The Forest Service cab went up on the summit in 1946, built by the Alladin Company of Portland, Oregon.1,4 It was a two-story frame cab with slanted windows and curved hip roof.5,4 The sources disagree on its size. Two give 14 by 14 feet, while the National Historic Lookout Register gives 12 by 12.5,4,3 It was intended to replace the region's standard Forest Service lookout, but the simpler R-6 flat-top design became the norm instead.3,4

WillhiteWeb names Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Fiedler as the summit's lookouts in 1952. Once a local school opened, the couple took up their teaching jobs, and Forest Couch covered the rest of the fire season.5

The summit was abandoned in 1960.4,5 The landowner, the state Department of Natural Resources, threatened for years to tear the cab down.4,2 According to FireLookout.com and WillhiteWeb, the Forest Fire Lookout Association dismantled it in 2005 and moved it to Entiat.4,5 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register instead says the tower was disassembled by 2025.6 The register's own description says the lookout had been nearly torn down to clear room for a microwave tower, and a May 2005 visit report found the building neglected, with a hole in the roof.3

The Association later donated the parts to CBFIC, which hoped to rebuild the cab in full.2 Most of the original parts were too damaged to reuse.2 The work crew kept the surviving beams, window supports and rafters and rebuilt the roof, so the new cab has one story where the original had two.2 Construction ran from October 2009 to spring 2010.2 WillhiteWeb calls it a replica of the top story, partly built from salvaged wood, particularly in the roof and window frames.1 SummitPost reports a split: some people regard it as an original lookout that was moved, while many others, the CBFIC among them, regard it as a replica.2

SummitPost says the center exists to increase public understanding of fire, through interpretive trails and signs, a visitor center and an amphitheater.2 The center's own page gives its address as 15212 Highway 97A in Entiat, while WillhiteWeb places the center on US Highway 97.7,1 None of the sources read says whether the rebuilt cab itself can be entered. At the original summit, the register says the tower was disassembled by 2025, and no source read describes what remains there.6

  1. Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center, WillhiteWeb.com, https://willhiteweb.com/washington/columbia_breaks_fire/interpretive_center_178.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center: Custom Object, SummitPost, https://www.summitpost.org/columbia-breaks-fire-interpretive-center/620288 (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Flattop Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/flattop-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Flattop Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://firelookout.com/wa/flattop.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  5. Flattop Mountain Lookout Sites, WillhiteWeb.com, https://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/flat_top_lookout/gifford_pinchot_263.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  6. Flattop Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/flattop-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  7. Our History, Columbia Breaks Fire Center, https://www.columbiabreakswildfire.com/index/our-history (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Moved
    • OpenStreetMap: Standing

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  3. 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.