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Fire lookout · Lewis County, Washington

Hamilton Butte Lookout Site

Lewis County, WA ground-level lookout cab in Gifford Pinchot NF: built 1929 per most sources, abandoned in the 1960s, listed gone; neighbouring trail open to the public.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. FFLOS listing marks the site Gone; sources say the lookout was abandoned in the 1960s; the Forest Service describes phone-line sections still along Trail 109; no source describes the cab as it stands today

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. Gifford Pinchot National Forest; the Forest Service says the nearby Trail 109 is open to motorcycles, hikers, horses and bicycles; no closure for the lookout site found

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
WillhiteWeb: 1 to 1.5 miles one-way, 300 to 850 feet of elevation gain; Forest Service says Hamilton Ridge Trail 109A connects Trail 109 with Hamilton Buttes Trail 118

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabGround-level lookout cab (FFLOS listing type 'Ground'); built 1929 per most sources; Firelookout.com lists an L-4 cab in 1938The design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1929
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,676 ft (1,730 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot National Forest (FFLOS: administered by U.S. Forest Service)
Land
Federal land
Location
Lewis County, Washington
Coordinates
46.39012, −121.60620
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-hamilton-butte

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 3.6 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. 1929 BuiltCab built in the summer of 1929 (WillhiteWeb); Forest Service says the lookout was built in 1929; June 1929 newspapers reported plans to erect a tower there in July and AugustSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com, fs.usda.gov
  2. 1938 AlteredFirelookout.com lists an L-4 cab in 1938Source: firelookout.com
  3. No record between 1938 and 2013
  4. 2013 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 12, 2013 as FFLOS US 1544, WA 439; nominated by Rob JeterSource: firetower.org
  5. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

Hamilton Buttes sit in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Lewis County, Washington.1,2,3 The register puts the lookout site at 5,676 feet, while Firelookout.com and WillhiteWeb give 5,772 feet.1,2,3

In June 1929 the Centralia Daily Chronicle reported plans to erect a tower on the buttes that July and August.4 The Sunday Oregonian said fire finders would be installed in each planned tower.4 WillhiteWeb says a lookout cab was built there in the summer of 1929, and the Forest Service also dates the lookout to 1929.3,5 Firelookout.com instead lists a cab in 1924 and an L-4 cab in 1938, so the early dates do not line up across sources.2,3,5

The lookout was abandoned in the 1960s.5,3,2 The FFLOS listing types the site as Ground and marks it gone.6

No source I read describes the lookout cab as it stands today.1,2,4,3,5,6 The Forest Service says sections of the old phone line are still left along Trail 109, and that the line once linked the lookout with the world below.5 WillhiteWeb calls Hamilton Buttes a former lookout site with striking views and gives the one-way hike as 1 to 1.5 miles.3 It says most cars should be able to make it, though the road is deteriorating quickly.3 The Forest Service says the nearby Trail 109 is open to motorcycles, hikers, horses and bicycles.5

  1. Hamilton Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/hamilton-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Hamilton Butte Fire Lookout Cabin, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/hamiltonbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Hamilton Buttes Trail - Gifford Pinchot National Forest, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/hamilton_buttes/trail_map_340.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Hamilton Butte - Forest Lookouts, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/hamilton-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Trail #109 Hamilton Peak, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/giffordpinchot/recreation/trails/trail-109-hamilton-peak (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Washington lookout listing, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wa/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Hamilton Butte Lookout (no date)
Hamilton Butte Lookout (no date)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Hamilton Butte Lookout panoramic 1929 (N)
Hamilton Butte Lookout panoramic 1929 (N) (1929)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Hamilton Butte Lookout panoramic 1929 (SE)
Hamilton Butte Lookout panoramic 1929 (SE) (1929)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Hamilton Butte Lookout panoramic 1929 (SW)
Hamilton Butte Lookout panoramic 1929 (SW) (1929)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · 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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) 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
  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, staffing, 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.