FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Waukiakum County, Washington

Incline Lookout Site

Also known as Incline Mountain

Wahkiakum County DNR site: 1938 40-ft wooden L-4 tower, a WWII AWS station, destroyed about 1967. Open state land, a short walk.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Destroyed about 1967; no source describes a standing tower.

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. State DNR land. WillhiteWeb says no gates will stop visitors, but an active timber sale could affect access. One photo is captioned 'Blocked summit road'; the page gives no cause.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Under half a mile on foot. The paved county road ends at a major washout, and a work-around road goes around it.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab on a 40-ft wooden tower (1938), with a ground houseThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1938
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
2,291 ft (698 m)
Agency
Washington Division of Forestry/DNR
Land
State land
Location
Waukiakum County, Washington
Coordinates
46.31527, −123.21700 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-incline

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 3.9 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. 1938 Built40-ft wooden tower with a 14x14 ft L-4 cab, and a ground houseSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service station Nan 3-9 activated March 9, 1942; 12x20 ft garage added with AWS funding; improvements left with the stateSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1942 and 1967
  4. 1967 DestroyedDestroyed about 1967Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1967 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 13, 2012Source: firetower.org
  7. 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.

Incline Mountain's lookout stood on state land in Wahkiakum County, Washington.1 The Division of Forestry's 1938 annual report, quoted on one lookout history page, says a new tower and ground house were built on the mountain, northeast of Cathlamet.2 WillhiteWeb describes the tower as a wooden 40-foot structure with a 14-by-14-foot L-4 cab on top, and says a ground house was built as well.1,3

During World War II the Aircraft Warning Service used the lookout.1 Its station, called Nan 3-9, was activated on March 9, 1942, and used existing state facilities.2 A WillhiteWeb photo caption is dated March 19, 1942, so the activation date is not settled.1 A 12-by-20-foot garage was added with AWS money.2,1 When the service ended, the improvements were left with the state.2

The lookout was destroyed about 1967.3,4,1

Today the site is on state DNR land. WillhiteWeb says it is under a half mile on foot, and that no gates will stop you.1 The same author warns that an active timber sale could affect access, and one photo is captioned "Blocked summit road."1

To get there, take Highway 4 west from Longview, then look for Abernathy Road a few miles past Stella.1 The paved county road ends at a major washout, and a work-around road climbs over it and drops back to the main road.1

A photo on the page is captioned "Incline Footing" and is credited to the web. The page does not say what, if anything, remains on the site today.1

  1. Incline Mountain Lookout Site - Wahkiakum County, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/incline-mountain/wahkiakum-county_133.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Incline Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/incline-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Incline Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/incline-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Incline Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/incline.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Incline 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the location by 720 m.

    • FFLOS: 46.31527, −123.21700
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 46.30890, −123.21510

    The map uses the position from FFLOS.

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: 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. 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.