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Fire lookout · Chelan County, Washington

Goode Ridge Lookout Site

Goode Ridge (Chelan County) had L-4 cabs built in 1937 and 1939; the first was blown over a cliff in 1938 and the second removed or destroyed in 1950. An NPS trail now leads toward the ridge.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Second cab removed (register) or destroyed (firelookout.com, Willhite) in 1950; the NPS says the lookout was removed years ago and most of what is left is broken glass among the rocks

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. Hiking trail in North Cascades National Park; no camping along the trail; overnight stays need a backcountry permit

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Five miles one way from the Upper Stehekin Valley Trail; about 4,400 ft of gain; rated strenuous; snowpack can obscure the upper trail well into late July in most years

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab built 1937 (blown over a cliff in 1938); second L-4 cab built 1939The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1937
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,400 ft (2,256 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (per the register, for the lookout era); the trail is now a National Park Service trail
Land
Federal land
Location
Chelan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.46289, −120.89836
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-goode-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 4.0 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

  1. 1934 EventPanoramic images taken from the ridge; dated 9-6-1934 in the register caption and September 6, 1934 by WillhiteSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1937 BuiltFirst L-4 cab builtSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1938 DestroyedFirst L-4 cab blown over a cliffSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1939 BuiltSecond L-4 cab builtSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1950 RemovedSecond cab removed per the register; firelookout.com and Willhite say destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1950 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register, October 20, 2012Source: firetower.org
  8. 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.

Goode Ridge sits in Chelan County, about 15 miles northwest of Stehekin, inside the Wenatchee National Forest.1,2 The register gives the site's elevation as 7,400 feet, and firelookout.com matches that figure, but Willhite lists the lookout at 6,780 feet.2,1,3

An L-4 cab went up in 1937 and was blown over a cliff in 1938.2,1,3 A second L-4 cab was built in 1939.2,1,3 Panoramic images of the ridge were taken in September 1934, about three years before the first cab went up.2,3

The register says the second cab was removed in 1950, while firelookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed that year.2,1,3

The trail was originally built to serve the lookout, and it is now a National Park Service hiking trail in North Cascades National Park.4 The Park Service says the lookout was removed years ago, but the views remain.4 The trail runs five miles one way from the Upper Stehekin Valley Trail, gains about 4,400 feet, and is rated strenuous.4 Snowpack can obscure the upper trail well into late July in most years, and there is no camping along the trail; overnight stays need a backcountry permit, and permits are limited.4

Willhite's page says he had not visited the site when he wrote it.3 The Park Service notes that what is left of the lookout building is mostly broken glass among the rocks.4

  1. Goode Ridge Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/gooderidge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Goode Ridge Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/goode-ridge-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Goodie Ridge Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/goodie_ridge_lookout/fire_065.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Goode Ridge Trail, National Park Service, North Cascades National Park, https://home.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/goode-ridge-trail.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Goode Ridge Lookout panoramic 9-6-1934 (N)
Goode Ridge Lookout panoramic 9-6-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Goode Ridge Lookout panoramic 9-6-1934 (SE)
Goode Ridge Lookout panoramic 9-6-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Goode Ridge Lookout panoramic 9-6-1934 (SW)
Goode Ridge Lookout panoramic 9-6-1934 (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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.