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Fire lookout · Kittitas County, Washington

Jolly Mountain Lookout Site

Fire camp in 1916, cupola cabin in 1921, L-4 cab in 1936; the cab was removed or destroyed in 1968 and no standing structure is described.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The L-4 cab came down in 1968; sources say removed or destroyed

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. Willhiteweb reports signs saying the trail is open to nearly every user group; no source describes a closure

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Gravel road 4315 for 5.9 miles to a gate, then a half-mile road walk to the trailhead; trail about 3 miles one way

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabCupola cabin (1921), replaced in 1936 by an L-4 cabThe designs: L-4, Cupola house
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1921
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,443 ft (1,964 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Wenatchee National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Kittitas County, Washington
Coordinates
47.38361, −121.02142
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-jolly-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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 4.0 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. 1916 EventFire camp set up on the site before any cabinSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1921 BuiltFirst structure, a cupola cabinSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1933 StaffedMontague Easton listed as known lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  4. 1936 Replaced by a new structureL-4 cab replaced the cupola cabinSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1936 and 1968
  6. 1968 Destroyedfirelookout.com and Willhiteweb say the L-4 cab was destroyedSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1968 RemovedRegistry says the L-4 cab was removedSource: firetower.org
  8. No record between 1968 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered October 21, 2012Source: firetower.org
  10. 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.

Jolly Mountain sits in the Wenatchee National Forest in Kittitas County, about 14 miles north-northwest of Cle Elum.1,2 The site was established in 1916 as a fire camp, before any cabin was built.1,3 A cupola cabin followed in 1921, and an L-4 cab replaced it in 1936.1,3

Firelookout.com's list of known lookout personnel has one entry: Montague Easton, for 1933.2

Sources disagree on how the L-4 cab ended. The Former Fire Lookout Sites register says it was removed in 1968, while firelookout.com and Willhiteweb say it was destroyed that year.1,2,3 A third listing marks the site as removed.4

None of the sources describes a surviving lookout structure today. Willhiteweb describes Jolly Mountain as a former lookout site, and reports that signs on the trail show it is open to almost all types of users.3 The route starts on gravel road 4315, which runs 5.9 miles to a gate with roadside parking.3 From the gate, the final half mile is road walking to the trailhead, and the trail is about three miles one way.3

  1. Jolly Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/jolly-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Jolly Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/jollymtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Jolly Mountain Lookout Site & Humerus Hill, Willhiteweb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/cle_elum/jolly_mountain/humerus_hill_151.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Jolly Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/jolly-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Jolly Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1921
1921 (1921)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1936
1936 (1936)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Interior, 1956
Interior, 1956 (1956)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, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.