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Fire lookout · Mason County, Washington

Jefferson Ridge Lookout Site

Mason County, WA tower built 1961 in the Olympic NF, reported as 40 or 41 ft; removed or burned in 1967; 2014 and 2022 visits found footings and debris.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. FFLOS says removed in 1967; FireLookout, Willhite and Forest Lookouts say destroyed or burned that year; footings and debris described in 2014 and 2022 accounts

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
Trail
Unmarked trail leaves the road behind the gate and is little used

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerTreated timber R-6 lookout tower; 41 ft per FFLOS and FireLookout, 40 ft per the 1962 newspaper item quoted by Willhite and Forest LookoutsThe design: R-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1961
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
3,850 ft (1,174 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Mason County, Washington
Coordinates
47.58458, −123.15476
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-jefferson-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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.8 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. 1960 EventParts flown up by helicopter while a nearby forest fire kept a helicopter staged at the Hoodsport Ranger Station (Willhite)Source: willhiteweb.com
  2. 1961 BuiltBuilt in 1961 per FFLOS; Forest Lookouts says material was hauled in by helicopter during the fire seasonSources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1962 EventPort Angeles Evening News (April 27, 1962, as quoted by Forest Lookouts): a 40 ft tower and lookout house was built, lumber flown in by helicopter; Willhite says the paper reported it finishedSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1967 BurnedWillhite and Forest Lookouts say no longer needed and burned in 1967; FireLookout says destroyedSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1967 RemovedFFLOS says removed in 1967Source: firetower.org
  6. 1976 RemovedArmy crews disassembled and cleaned a partly burned lookout, per a June 1976 Shelton-Mason Co. Journal article quoted by Willhite; the pieces were piled and burned againSource: willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1976 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 17, 2012 as US 1191, WA 92; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  9. 2014 Condition assessmentWillhite's visit: debris pile and much of the lookout lying around the siteSource: willhiteweb.com
  10. 2022 Condition assessmentWashington Trails Association trip report (Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022): burned timbers, metal fittings and four tower footings seenSource: wta.org
  11. 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.

Jefferson Ridge sits between the Hamma Hamma River and the Jefferson Creek valley in Mason County, inside the Olympic National Forest, at 3,850 feet.1,2,3

The register dates the tower to 1961 and gives it as a 41-foot treated timber R-6 tower.1 Sources disagree on the year and the height. Willhite says helicopter-borne parts arrived in 1960, while a nearby forest fire kept one helicopter stationed at the Hoodsport Ranger Station.2 A Port Angeles Evening News item of April 27, 1962, quoted on the Forest Lookouts page, reports that the tower, 40 feet tall with a lookout house, went up on the ridge, with the lumber brought in by helicopter.3 Willhite says the same paper reported the tower as finished.2

Willhite says the lookout was used for only a few years.2

The register says the tower was removed in 1967.1 FireLookout says it was destroyed that year, and Willhite and the Forest Lookouts page say it had outlived its use and was burned.4,2,3 Willhite also cites a June 1976 Shelton-Mason Co. Journal article about Army trail work in the area, which said crews had taken apart and cleaned up a partly burned lookout here. He judged the cleanup poor: the wreckage was simply heaped up and burned a second time.2

Willhite's page, based on what he saw in 2014, describes much of the lookout lying around the site, including an old foundation.2 A Washington Trails Association trip report from November 2022 found burned timbers, metal hardware, four footings, an old building foundation, and what looked like propane stove remnants.5

A 2022 trip report says drivers can reach a gate on forest road 2421 and hike the rest, and that water bars on the road need a high-clearance vehicle.5 Willhite calls the road steep and rocky and recommends high clearance, and says it ends at a gate with plenty of parking.2 No source we read mentions a permit or closure for the site.

  1. Jefferson Ridge Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/jefferson-ridge-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Jefferson Ridge Trail - Jefferson Ridge Point Lookout, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/olympic_mountains/jefferson_ridge_point/lookout_trail_212.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Jefferson Ridge, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/jefferson-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Jefferson Ridge Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/jeffersonridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Jefferson Ridge trip report, Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2022-11-04.5002306215 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Jefferson Ridge Lookout 1961
Jefferson Ridge Lookout 1961 (1961)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via 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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: 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, 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.