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Fire lookout · Kittitas County, Washington

Icicle Ridge Lookout Site

Wenatchee NF summit: 1914 camp, 1929 D-6 cupola cabin, lookouts named to 1965, cabin removed or destroyed 1966. Hiking site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cabin removed (register, photo blog) or destroyed (firelookout.com) in 1966; 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. Hike on foot to the summit. No closure or restriction is described in the pages read.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
About 6 miles and 4,700 ft of gain from a trailhead 9.6 miles up paved Icicle Creek Road (FR 76), via the Fourth of July Creek Trail and Icicle Ridge Trail. The guide says a short rock climb reaches the top.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabD-6 cupola cabin, built 1929The design: D-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1929
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,029 ft (2,142 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Kittitas County, Washington
Coordinates
47.59094, −120.76727
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-icicle-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 4.1 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. 1914 EventCamp established at the summitSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1928 EventNewspaper account (October 12, 1928): a blasted-flat rock was to be the foundation for the lookout houseSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1929 BuiltD-6 cupola cabin built; 48 loads of lumber packed up the trail by horseSources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1932 FireLookout John Nelson spotted a fire that burned two cottages in East Wenatchee (Wenatchee World, August 1932)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1933 StaffedFrank Allman named as Icicle Ridge lookoutSources: firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1936 AlteredNew stairs and a catwalk built around the lookout houseSource: lookouts.posthaven.com
  7. 1940 EventCoast and Geodetic Survey station description calls the structure a tower; other accounts describe a cabinSources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1940 and 1963
  9. 1963 StaffedLookout still staffed at the time of a 1963 photo; Frank McWhirter named for 1963Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. 1965 Last staffedWayne Johnson named as lookout; last named lookout foundSource: firelookout.com
  11. 1966 RemovedRegister and photo blog say removed; firelookout.com says destroyed; WillhiteWeb says it lasted until 1966Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  12. No record between 1966 and 2012
  13. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered October 20, 2012Source: firetower.org
  14. 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.

Icicle Ridge's lookout began as a camp in 1914, about five miles west of Leavenworth in the Wenatchee National Forest.1,2

In October 1928 a newspaper account of a forest inspection trip said a big rock, blasted flat, was to become the foundation for the lookout house.3

The cabin went up in 1929.1 Packers carried 48 loads of lumber up the steep trail by horse that year, and the building was a D-6 cupola cabin.4,1

Newspapers name a run of summer lookouts through the 1920s and 1930s.3 Ralph Koerner was the patrolman in 1924, A.G. Sharp was hired for the summer of 1926, and Frank Allman is named in 1933.3 In August 1932 John Nelson, a forest service lookout on the ridge, spotted a fire that burned two cottages in East Wenatchee.3 John Kjosness worked summers on the Leavenworth Ranger District from 1934 to 1939, at times as a lookout at several stations including this one.5 In 1936 he helped a carpenter build new stairs and a solid catwalk around the lookout house.5

A 1940 Coast and Geodetic Survey station description calls the structure a tower, while other accounts describe a cabin.3,1

A 1963 photograph shows the lookout still staffed.1 FireLookout.com names Frank McWhirter in 1963 and Wayne Johnson in 1965, the last lookouts I found named.2

The register says the cabin was removed three years after that photograph, which puts it in 1966.1 FireLookout.com says it was destroyed.2 WillhiteWeb says it lasted until 1966, and a photo blog says it was removed that year.4,5

None of the pages read describes footings or other remains on the summit today.4 The guide calls the summit a former lookout site with a panoramic view, and it mentions a bar that sticks out of the summit. A rope looped around it can serve as a handhold for the last few feet.4

The hike is long. The guide lists a 6-mile route with 4,700 feet of gain, starting at the western edge of Leavenworth, where the paved Icicle Creek Road (Forest Road 76) runs 9.6 miles to the trailhead.4 The Fourth of July Creek Trail climbs to the ridge, and the route then follows the Icicle Ridge Trail to the summit rocks.4 The guide says the average hiker can get to within 20 feet of the summit, and a short rock climb reaches the top.4 No closure is described in the pages I read.

  1. Icicle Ridge Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/icicle-ridge-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Icicle Ridge Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/icicleridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Icicle Ridge - FOREST LOOKOUTS, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/icicle-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Icicle Ridge Lookout - Leavenworth Hiking Trails, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/alpine_lakes_wilderness/icicle_ridge/trail_007.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Icicle Ridge ... - Lookouts, posthaven blog, https://lookouts.posthaven.com/icicle-ridge-dot-dot-dot (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Icicle Ridge 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, 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

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