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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Goat Peak Lookout

Okanogan County lookout above the Methow Valley. A 1923 cupola cabin was replaced in 1950 by the current L-4; full-time staffing ended around 2014 and it is now on call.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Reached on foot. Sources read do not say whether visitors may enter the cab; it remains a working fire lookout.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Hike from Early Winters campground. WTA lists 3.7 miles round trip; OutdoorsNW says 3.5 miles. WTA lists the America the Beautiful Pass or Northwest Forest Pass as the parking pass.
Staffing
Staffed by volunteers

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerCurrent L-4 cab with catwalk on a 15' timber tower (1950), replacing an original D-6 cupola cabin (1923)The designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1923
Height
89 ft (27.0 m)
Elevation
6,737 ft (2,053 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.63210, −120.40270
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-goat-peak

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.

Downloads about 4.3 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. 1923 BuiltOriginal D-6 cupola cabin built by the old Chelan National ForestSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1923 StaffedKnown lookout personnel: Ferdinand McRaeSource: firelookout.com
  3. 1929 StaffedKnown lookout personnel: Marian WrightSource: firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1929 and 1950
  5. 1950 BuiltSource: firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page
  6. 1950 Replaced by a new structureCurrent L-4 with catwalk replaced the original cupola cabinSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  7. 1952 StaffedKnown lookout personnel: Warren EllsSource: firelookout.com
  8. 1959 StaffedKnown lookout personnel: Alfred AndersonSource: firelookout.com
  9. No record between 1959 and 2000
  10. 2000 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate Registered November 4, 2000Source: nhlr.org
  11. 2014 EventBill Austin moved to the Leecher Lookout; Goat Peak became an on-call postSource: wta.org
  12. 2015 Last staffedRegularly staffed until 2015; occasionally in emergencies afterwardSource: okanogancountry.com
  13. 2017 FireNearby fires came close; the lookout was wrapped for its safetySource: okanogancountry.com
  14. 2020 StaffedVolunteer staffing by chapter chair Christine Estrada began.Source: mvffla.org
  15. 2021 FireNearby fires came close again; the lookout was wrapped for its safetySource: okanogancountry.com
  16. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Goat Peak Lookout stands in Okanogan County, Washington, and is a prominent landmark of the Methow Valley.1,2 The register says the original cabin was a D-6 cupola cabin, built in 1923 by the old Chelan National Forest.1 Firelookout.com gives the same 1923 date for that cabin.3

In 1950 the cupola was replaced with the current L-4 cab, which has a catwalk and sits on a 15' timber tower.1,3

The register says the lookout has been staffed every year since it was built.1 Later accounts describe a change. Bill Austin, known as Lightning Bill, staffed it full-time for nineteen straight fire seasons.4,2 When he moved to the Leecher Lookout near Twisp in 2014, Goat Peak became an on-call post, staffed when approaching storms call for extra watching.4 OutdoorsNW says it was staffed on a regular basis until 2015 and only now and then during emergencies after that.2 Firelookout.com says the post was reduced to emergency-only status, and that a volunteer host has kept watch there in recent years.3

Nearby fires came close enough in 2017 and 2021 that the lookout was covered in protective wrapping.2 Washington Trails Association says the lookout still contributes to forest fire detection.4

The hike starts from Early Winters campground.1 WTA lists a round trip of 3.7 miles, and OutdoorsNW calls the trip 3.5 miles.4,2 WTA lists the America the Beautiful Pass or the Northwest Forest Pass as the parking pass.4 The sources do not say whether visitors may go inside the cab, so do not count on it.

  1. Goat Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/goat-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Fire Tower Lookouts of the Okanogan, OutdoorsNW, Okanogan Country, https://okanogancountry.com/story/fire-tower-lookouts-of-the-okanogan--outdoorsnw (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Goat Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/goatpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Goat Peak Lookout, Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/goat-peak (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Goat Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Goat Peak in 1923
Goat Peak in 1923 (1923)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Goat Peak L.O.
Goat Peak L.OPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Goat Peak L.O.
Goat Peak L.OPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Goat Peak Lookout
Photo: TrailChick Washington lookout guide (trailchick.com) · 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. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: design, staffing, dates, photos, 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. Methow Valley Forest Fire Lookout Association Gave us: dates, links Methow Valley Forest Fire Lookout Association (mvffla.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the association's post it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: height, register numbers, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. 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
  7. TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts Gave us: photos, links TrailChick (trailchick.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, coordinates, elevation, lookout type, years built). The guide's text is not reproduced; its card photos are listed with credit to TrailChick, for the project's photo mirroring. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  8. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages Gave us: links FFLA chapters and Friends groups (each link names the group) · Links to the groups' own pages; facts only from the California-South chapter's tower table (register page, operator, condition). No text or photos reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  9. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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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