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Fire lookout · King County, Washington

Kelly Butte Lookout

L-4 ground cab on Kelly Butte, King County WA, dating to 1950; cupola built 1926; restored by volunteers 2008-2011; open only when volunteers staff it, late June to September.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. Visitors are welcome inside only when a volunteer is on duty; staffed from the end of June to the end of September. Camping is not allowed at the lookout or on its deck.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Trail 1031, 1.7 miles with about 1,000 feet of climb from the Kelly Butte Trailhead (Forest Service road 7030, high-clearance vehicle recommended); one trail guide gives 1,100 feet of climb.
Staffing
Staffed by volunteers (as of 2026)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 ground cab, 14 by 14 feet, with catwalk (first lookout a 12-by-12-foot cupola cabin)The designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,409 ft (1,649 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
King County, Washington
Coordinates
47.16928, −121.49037
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-kelly-butte

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

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. 1926 BuiltFirst lookout: 12-by-12-foot D-6 cupola cabinSources: nhlr.org, fs.usda.gov, snoqualmielookouts.org
  2. No record between 1926 and 1950
  3. 1950 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  4. 1950 Replaced by a new structureL-4 ground cab replaced the cupola; the Register dates the cab itself to 1932 (14x14 ground house)Sources: nhlr.org, fs.usda.gov
  5. No record between 1950 and 1980
  6. 1980 Last staffedLast staffed in the 1980s (exact year not given; recorded as 1980)Sources: firelookout.com, nhlr.org
  7. No record between 1980 and 2006
  8. 2006 EventFFLA restoration award toward the Kelly Butte Lookout restorationSource: firelookout.org
  9. 2006 RestoredNew roof installed and windows prepared for removal as the first stage of the restoration.Source: firelookout.org
  10. 2008 RestoredVolunteers working with FFLA and the Forest Service began a major restorationSource: snoqualmielookouts.org
  11. 2011 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered August 15, 2011 as US 910, WA 59Source: nhlr.org
  12. 2011 RestoredRestoration completed; volunteers logged over 3,000 hoursSources: snoqualmielookouts.org, trailchick.com
  13. 2012 StaffedPlaced back in service by the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National ForestSource: snoqualmielookouts.org
  14. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Kelly Butte rises to about 5,400 feet in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in King County.1,2 The first lookout on the summit was a 12-by-12-foot cupola cabin, which the National Historic Lookout Register, the Forest Service and the Snoqualmie Fire Lookouts all date to 1926.1,2,3 A regional history page quotes 1924 notes that construction was under way and that a new standard lookout house was finished in December 1924, so the start date is not fully settled.4

The cupola was replaced in 1950 by an L-4 cab.2 The Register describes that cab as a 14-by-14-foot ground house from 1932, with a catwalk, and says the lookout was staffed until the 1980s.1

The lookout was last staffed in the 1980s.5 The Snoqualmie association says it then stood empty for about twenty years while it gradually decayed.3 Starting in 2008, volunteers teamed up with the Forest Fire Lookout Association and the Forest Service on a major restoration, finished in 2011.3 The Forest Service returned the lookout to service in 2012.3

A 2006 Forest Fire Lookout Association report shows an award that year toward the restoration.6 A trail guide says the volunteers logged more than 3,000 hours of work.7 With major help from the Washington Trails Association, the trail was improved, and a new route eliminated the need for a rope on a steep section.3

The Forest Service describes the lookout as staffed by volunteers from the end of June to the end of September.2 Visitors can go inside only when a volunteer is on duty.7 When the lookout is staffed, the association welcomes visitors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but warns that there may be unscheduled days when it is closed.3 Camping is not allowed at the lookout or on its deck, and there is no potable water nearby.3

The trail, Forest Service trail 1031, is 1.7 miles long, with about 1,000 feet of climb from the Kelly Butte Trailhead.2,3 The Forest Service recommends a high-clearance vehicle on Forest Road 7030.2,3 One trail guide puts the climb at 1,100 feet.7 Check with the Snoqualmie association or the Forest Service before you go.

  1. Kelly Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/kelly-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Kelly Butte Lookout, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mbs/recreation/kelly-butte-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Kelly Butte Lookout, Snoqualmie Fire Lookouts Association, https://www.snoqualmielookouts.org/kelly-butte-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Kelly Butte, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/kelly-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Kelly Butte Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/kellybutte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Forest Fire Lookout Association restoration report, 2006, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-rest-2006.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  7. Kelly Butte Lookout, TrailChick, https://www.trailchick.com/wa-state-fire-lookouts/kelly-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Kelly Butte Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
From the trail looking north, July 2, 2011
From the trail looking north, July 2, 2011 (2011)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Plaque at dedication of Kelly Butte as a national historic building, September 2011
Plaque at dedication of Kelly Butte as a national historic building, September 2011 (2011)Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
September 2019 photo
September 2019 photo (2019)Photo: John Hearing, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Kelly Butte in 1939
Kelly Butte in 1939 (1939)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum, and Bob Adler, via firelookout.com · source
Kelly Butte in 1986
Kelly Butte in 1986 (1986)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum, and Bob Adler, via firelookout.com · source
Kelly Butte in 2011
Kelly Butte in 2011 (2011)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, the Fire Lookout Museum, and Bob Adler, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Kelly Butte Lookout
Photo: TrailChick Washington lookout guide (trailchick.com) · 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 year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1950
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1926
    • TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts: 1950
    • Snoqualmie Fire Lookouts Association: 1926

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: what it is built of, design, photos, 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. Snoqualmie Fire Lookouts Association Gave us: staffing, dates, links Snoqualmie Fire Lookouts Association (snoqualmielookouts.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the association's page it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. 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
  7. TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts Gave us: photos, links TrailChick (trailchick.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, coordinates, elevation, lookout type, years built). The guide's text is not reproduced; its card photos are listed with credit to TrailChick, for the project's photo mirroring. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  8. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages FFLA chapters and Friends groups (each link names the group) · Links to the groups' own pages; facts only from the California-South chapter's tower table (register page, operator, condition). No text or photos reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  9. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, agency, access, staffing, 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.