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Fire lookout · Chelan County, Washington

French Ridge Lookout Site

Chelan County L-5 cab built 1934 in Wenatchee National Forest, removed in the 1970s; Willhite describes foundation and remains; reached by trail from Leavenworth.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in the 1970s; Willhite's photo captions mention a foundation, remains and an anchor spike

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 a hiking trail from Leavenworth; no source read describes a closure or a permit

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
From Leavenworth, Icicle Creek Road to the trailhead, then Icicle Creek Trail 2 miles and French Ridge Trail 4.4 miles (Willhite; hiking distance 6.5 miles, gain 3,500 feet). A 2003 trip report says the side trail to the site is easy to miss.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 cab; the sources read mention a cab and no towerThe design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,800 ft (1,768 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Wenatchee National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Chelan County, Washington
Coordinates
47.63656, −121.01899
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-french-ridge

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 4.1 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. 1934 BuiltBuilt in 1934 as an L-5 cab (FFLOS, firelookout.com, Willhite)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 EventJune 1934 Leavenworth Echo, as quoted by Forest Lookouts and Willhite: John Wade and Frank Nixon packing the lookout house in; panoramic photos taken August 1934Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1934 StaffedKjosness worked summers from 1934 through 1939 on the Leavenworth Ranger District; his lookout posts included French RidgeSource: lookouts.posthaven.com
  4. No record between 1934 and 1963
  5. 1963 Staffedfirelookout.com lists Ralph Walter as known lookout personnel in 1963Source: firelookout.com
  6. 1970 RemovedRemoved in the 1970s; the sources give no single year, so 1970 stands for the decadeSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1970 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered October 20, 2012 as US 1403, WA 303; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  9. 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.

French Ridge sits in the Wenatchee National Forest in Chelan County, about 17 miles to the west of Leavenworth.1,2 The lookout was an L-5 cab built in 1934.1,3 The sources we read describe a cab, not a tower.1,2,3

In June 1934 the Leavenworth Echo reported that John Wade and Frank Nixon were packing the lookout house in that week.4,3 The paper also said snow in the high country reached as deep as 15 feet in some spots.4,3 Panoramic photos were made from the lookout's roof on August 13, 1934.4,3

A blog that posts Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest photos and notes says John (Johan) Olav Kjosness worked summers from 1934 through 1939, and that his lookout posts included French Ridge.5 Firelookout.com lists Ralph Walter as known lookout personnel in 1963.2

Removal came in the 1970s.1,2,3

Willhite's photo captions mention a foundation, remains and an anchor spike at the site, and one of his views from the site is captioned 2020.3 No source we read describes what stands there now beyond those captions.3

Willhite's directions begin in Leavenworth on Icicle Creek Road, run to the trailhead, then cover 2 miles on the Icicle Creek Trail and 4.4 miles on the French Ridge Trail to reach the site.3 He lists a hiking distance of 6.5 miles with 3,500 feet of gain.3 A 2003 trip report said hikers could overlook the side trail up to the site.6 The site is on Wenatchee National Forest land, and no source we read describes a closure or a permit.1,3

  1. French Ridge Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/french-ridge-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. French Ridge Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/frenchridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. French Ridge Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/french_ridge_lookout/icicle_creek_044.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. French Ridge, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/french-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Icicle Ridge ... - Lookouts, Lookouts blog, https://lookouts.posthaven.com/icicle-ridge-dot-dot-dot (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. French Creek, French Ridge & Icicle Creek, Washington Trails Association trip report, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/tripreport-2003082403 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

French Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-13-1934 (N)
French Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-13-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
French Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-13-1934 (SE)
French Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-13-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
French Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-13-1934 (SW)
French Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-13-1934 (SW) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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

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