FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lewis County, Washington

Huckleberry Mountain Lookout Site (Mt. Rainier)

Also known as Huckleberry Mountain

Lewis County, WA lookout site: L-4 cab built 1931 by the Snoqualmie NF, staffed by state foresters, abandoned 1965; ruins and debris remain on the summit behind a gate.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned in 1965; ruins and debris remain on the summit

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Reached by Forest Service Road 71 to a private gate near Lookout Mountain. Willhite says the gate is open only part of the year. No current Forest Service listing found.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Three miles, maybe four, with about 1,000 feet of gain from the gate (Willhite); the original trail can be followed below the lookout

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabgable-roof L-4 cab (1931)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1931
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
3,800 ft (1,158 m)
Agency
Washington Division of Forestry/DNR
Land
Federal land
Location
Lewis County, Washington
Coordinates
46.71206, −122.43546
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-huckleberry-mountain-mt-rainier

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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 4.2 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. 1930 EventFirst used as a camp on the peak, before the cabSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1931 BuiltSnoqualmie National Forest built a gable-roof L-4 cabSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1931 and 1953
  4. 1953 First staffedRegister says staffed by the Washington State Division of Forestry by 1953; Willhite places staffing later in the 1950sSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1965 AbandonedAbandoned in 1965; firelookout.com marks the year with a question markSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1965 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: May 26, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  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.

Huckleberry Mountain is in Lewis County, Washington, between the headwaters of the Skookumchuck and Deschutes rivers.1,2 A camp was first set up on the peak in 1930, and in 1931 the Snoqualmie National Forest built a gable-roofed L-4 cab there.1,3,2 The site now sits inside the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.1

The register says the Washington State Division of Forestry, later the DNR, had staffed the lookout by 1953.1 Willhite places the start of staffing later in the 1950s.2 Those two dates do not quite agree. The lookout was abandoned in 1965, although one hobbyist page puts a question mark after that year.1,3,2

Ruins remain on the summit.1,3 Willhite reports plenty of debris up there, including a Firefinder post set in the rock, and says large trees now block every view.2

Forest Service Road 71 leads to a private gate near Lookout Mountain.2 Willhite says the gate is open only part of the year.2 He adds that a locked gate means a long walk in.2 He gives the trip as three miles, maybe four, with about 1,000 feet of gain from the gate, and notes that the original trail can be followed below the lookout.2 Check the gate and road conditions with the Gifford Pinchot National Forest before you go, and do not go around a closed gate.

  1. Huckleberry Mountain Lookout Site (Mt. Rainier), Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/huckleberry-mountain-lookout-site-mt-rainier/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Huckleberry Mountain Lookout - Lewis County Washington, WillhiteWeb.com, https://willhiteweb.com/washington/fire_lookouts/huckleberry_mountain_lookout/lewis_county_265.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Huckleberry Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/huckleberry136.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Huckleberry Mountain Lookout Site (Mt. Rainier)
Photo: 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, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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: height, ownership, 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. 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.