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Fire lookout · Clallam County, Washington

Hurricane Hill Lookout Site

Olympic National Park summit cab, early-1930s L-4; sources give 1960 (destroyed) or 1960-or-later (removed); now reached by paved trail.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Gone. WillhiteWeb and FireLookout.com say destroyed in 1960; the FFLOS register says removed in 1960 or later

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. Inside Olympic National Park; reached on foot by a paved trail from the end of the Hurricane Ridge road

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Paved National Park trail of about 1.5 miles from the end of the Hurricane Ridge road to the summit

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 ground cab with an unusually small outer doorThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1930
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,757 ft (1,755 m)
Agency
National Park Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Clallam County, Washington
Coordinates
47.99025, −123.52900
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-hurricane-hill

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 4.2 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 BuiltEarly 1930s according to WillhiteWeb; the FFLOS register gives only 'the 1930s', so the exact year is not in the sourcesSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service station, activated March 26, 1942 under the Port Angeles Filter Center; it used structures the park already ownedSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1956 StaffedHarry and Mrs. Hall spent the summer at the Hurricane Lookout Station; in August Harry Hall reported 61 lightning strikes and no firesSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1960 DestroyedWillhiteWeb and FireLookout.com say destroyed in 1960; the FFLOS register says removed in 1960 or laterSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, firelookout.com
  5. 1969 EventMay 30, 1969 Port Angeles Evening News item describes the summit as the top of an old lookout siteSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1969 and 2011
  7. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered February 19, 2011; nominated by Irene PotterSource: 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.

Hurricane Hill is a 5,757-foot summit in Olympic National Park, in Clallam County, Washington. A lookout cab once stood on its top.1

The lookout was an L-4 ground cab, put up in the early 1930s.1,2 Its outer door was unusually small, a design that let it shut first in strong winds, before the inner door was opened.1

During the Second World War the summit served as an Aircraft Warning Service station. The station's listing gives an activation date of March 26, 1942, under the Port Angeles Filter Center, and it used structures the park already owned.2,3

In the summer of 1956, Harry Hall and his wife staffed the Hurricane Lookout Station, according to a July 21, 1956 Port Angeles Evening News item.3 On August 15, 1956, Harry Hall reported 61 lightning strikes and no fires from the lookout.3

The sources differ on the year the cab was lost. WillhiteWeb and FireLookout.com give 1960 as the year it was destroyed.2,4 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register is less precise: it says the cab was removed in 1960 or later.1 Every source we read agrees the cab is gone. A May 30, 1969 Port Angeles Evening News item, describing a walk up the trail, called the summit the top of an old lookout site.3

The summit is reached on foot. A paved National Park trail runs about 1.5 miles from the end of the Hurricane Ridge road to the top, so the site is open to visitors.2 A photo caption dated 2001 on WillhiteWeb mentions a footing at the site, but we found no source that describes what remains there now.2

  1. Hurricane Hill Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/hurricane-hill-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Hurricane Hill - Olympic National Park, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/olympic_mountains/hurricane_hill/port_angeles_191.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Hurricane Ridge - Forest Lookouts, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/hurricane-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Hurricane Hill Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/hurricanehill.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Hurricane Hill Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hurricane Hill Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hurricane Hill Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hurricane Hill Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Hurricane Hill Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
8/26/2001
8/26/2001 (2001)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
8/26/2001
8/26/2001 (2001)Photo: 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. 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.