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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Jackass Butte Lookout Site

L-5 cab moved here from Chiliwist Butte in 1939; AWS use 1942-43; cab removed or destroyed 1963; only a foundation photo is described.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed or destroyed in 1963; the Register photo list includes a foundation

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 cab moved here from Chiliwist Butte in 1939The design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
Unknown
Height
13 ft (4.1 m)
Elevation
1,738 ft (530 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.35433, −119.56322
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-jackass-butte

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. 1936 EventPanorama photos taken July 9, 1936; WillhiteWeb says the images show two cars, a phone line and wood scrapsSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1939 MovedL-5 cab moved to Jackass Butte from Chiliwist Butte; a 30-foot treated-timber L-4 tower was built at Chiliwist that yearSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, firetower.org
  3. 1942 StaffedAWS use for spotting enemy aircraft; activated March 16, 1942Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1943 Last staffedAWS deactivated July 1, 1943; no later staffing named in sourcesSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1956 AbandonedUSGS 1956 description calls the lookout house abandoned: 14 x 14 ft, white, roof peak 13.6 ft above groundSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. 1963 RemovedRegister says removed; Fire Lookout says destroyed; WillhiteWeb says removed or destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1963 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: November 17, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  9. 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.

Jackass Butte is a former fire lookout site in the Okanogan National Forest, in Okanogan County, Washington.1 The Forest Service administered it.1 Fire Lookout places it one mile southeast of Okanogan.2 A 1956 U.S. Geological Survey description puts it about one mile south of Okanogan and about four miles southwest of Omak.3

The lookout cab came from another butte. The Register says an L-5 cab was moved here from Chiliwist Butte in 1939.1 The Chiliwist Butte record says a 30-foot treated-timber L-4 tower went up there that year, and the L-5 cab went to Jackass Butte.4

Panorama photos were taken at the site on July 9, 1936.3 WillhiteWeb notes two cars, a phone line and plenty of wood scraps in the photos.5

In 1942 the site went to wartime use. WillhiteWeb says the AWS used it to spot enemy aircraft.5 The Forest Lookouts page gives the service dates as March 16, 1942 to July 1, 1943.3 A photo caption on WillhiteWeb says Jackass was manned all year during that service.5

In 1956 the U.S. Geological Survey placed a benchmark on the lookout house and called it abandoned. The survey described a 14-by-14-foot white building with its roof peak 13.6 feet above the ground.3,5

The sources disagree on what happened to the cab in 1963. The Register says it was removed that year.1 Fire Lookout says it was destroyed.2 WillhiteWeb says it was removed or destroyed.5

The Register's photo list includes a foundation from the tower, credited to Bob Pfeifer.1 No source I read describes the site today beyond that caption. None says whether the land is open to visitors or whether anything else stands on the hill now.1,2,3,5

  1. Jackass Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org), http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/jackass-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Jackass Butte Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/jackassbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Jackass Butte, Forest Lookouts (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/jackass-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Chiliwist Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org), http://www.firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/chiliwist-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Jackass Butte Fire Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/jackass_butte/lookout_091.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Jackass Butte Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Foundation from the tower
Foundation from the towerPhoto: Bob Pfeifer, via 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, height, status, agency, 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.