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Fire lookout · Clallam County, Washington

Hyas Mountain Lookout Site

Olympic NF summit: a 1943 AWS cabin, then a 1956 R-6 tower removed or destroyed in 1971. No source describes remains today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed or destroyed in 1971; no source describes a standing structure.

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. Walk on Olympic National Forest land. None of the pages read mentions a gate or closure.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
1.3 miles one way, about 700 ft of gain, along an old road off FR 2923. The author says the road is brushy, with fallen trees.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 flat-top cab on a 40-ft treated timber tower (1956); earlier AWS cabinThe design: R-6
Built of
Not recorded
Also served as
Aircraft Warning Service postDuring the Second World War it was staffed to spot and report aircraft.
Built
1943
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
3,077 ft (938 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Clallam County, Washington
Coordinates
47.98111, −124.13382
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-hyas-mountain

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. 1943 Built15x18 ft AWS cabin per FFLOS; WillhiteWeb dates the AWS station to 1942 and quotes a 12x16 ft shake cabinSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1943 EventState memo: station used for over a year as an AWS station and a summer fire lookoutSource: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1956 Replaced by a new structure40-ft treated timber tower with R-6 cab replaced the cabin; a 1956 newspaper item quoted by WillhiteWeb says 30 ftSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  4. No record between 1956 and 1971
  5. 1971 RemovedRegister says removed; firelookout.com, WillhiteWeb and the Weebly listing say destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1971 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 13, 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.

Hyas Mountain is a former lookout site on Olympic National Forest land in Clallam County, Washington.1 The register says the early building there was a 15-by-18-foot cabin, built in 1943, that served during World War II as an Aircraft Warning Service station.1 WillhiteWeb dates the station to 1942, and it quotes a 1944 Air Warning report describing a 12-by-16-foot shake cabin built with AWS labor, so the size and the year do not match.2

A state memo dated October 13, 1943, and quoted by WillhiteWeb, says the station had been used for over a year as an AWS station and as a summer fire lookout.2 Plans for a new tower and house that year ran into a cost dispute.2 In a December memo, the Air Warning Service objected to paying half the cost of the new house and tower.2

A tower finally went up in 1956.2 The register says a 40-foot treated timber tower with an R-6 flat cab replaced the old cabin that year.1 A 1956 newspaper item, quoted by WillhiteWeb, says the tower was 30 feet high, so the sources disagree on its height.2

The tower came down in 1971, and the sources differ on how. The register says it was removed, while firelookout.com, WillhiteWeb and a Weebly listing say it was destroyed.1,3,2,4

The last stretch is on foot.2 WillhiteWeb gives the walk as 1.3 miles one way with about 700 feet of climbing. The route runs from Cooper Ranch Road off Highway 101 onto Forest Road 2923, then along an old spur road off that road.2 The author says the old road is brushy, with fallen trees to work around.2 A guidebook quoted there calls the spot the best view of Mount Olympus, and the author suggests clearing the old road and cutting the summit trees.2 Photo captions on WillhiteWeb name post footings, an outhouse foundation, a battery, a fry pan and phone line wire, and one caption is dated 2020.2 None of the pages read mentions a gate or closure.

  1. Hyas Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/hyas-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Hyas Mountain Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/hyas_mountain/lookout_site_010.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Hyas Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/hyas.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Hyas Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/hyas-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Hyas Mountain Lookout Site
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, wartime use, 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: design, height, 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, height, 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.