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Fire lookout · Chelan County, Washington

Klone Peak Lookout Site

Former L-5 cab lookout on Klone Peak, Chelan County, WA, built 1931 and destroyed or removed in 1963; sources do not say what remains on the summit today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab destroyed or removed in 1963 (sources differ on the word). Sources do not say what remains on the summit today; one undated Willhite photo is captioned as an assortment of little items at the summit.

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. Reached on foot by trail. Willhite came in from Maverick Saddle, about 12 hiking miles, and found the trails to the summit gave no trouble. The upper Mad River trails close seasonally to everyone but hikers.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Many access points, per Willhite. The upper Mad River trails close seasonally to everyone but hikers in late spring and early summer.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 cabThe design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,820 ft (2,079 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Chelan County, Washington
Coordinates
47.96186, −120.62090
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-klone-peak

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 4.3 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. 1931 BuiltBuilt as an L-5 cab at the highest point of Klone PeakSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 EventPanorama photos taken there on September 18, 1934Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1934 and 1963
  4. 1963 DestroyedFirelookout.com and Willhite say the cab was destroyed; Firetower.org says removedSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1963 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered October 21, 2012 as US 1411, nominated by Ray KresekSource: 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.

Klone Peak rises to 6,820 feet in the Wenatchee National Forest in Chelan County, Washington.1,2 The U.S. Forest Service administers the site.1

The lookout was an L-5 cab built in 1931 at the highest point of the peak.1,2,3 Panorama photos were taken there on September 18, 1934.4,3

The cab came down in 1963: Firelookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed, while Firetower.org says it was removed.1,2,3 The site was registered on October 21, 2012, with Ray Kresek as nominator.1

The sources do not say what remains on the summit today. One undated Willhite photo is captioned "Assortment of little items at the summit," but no text explains it.3 Willhite's account covers the approach instead. He came in from Maverick Saddle, about 12 hiking miles, and found the trails to the top gave no trouble.3 The upper Mad River trails close seasonally to everyone except hikers, in late spring and early summer.3

  1. Klone Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/klone-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Klone Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/klonepeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Klone Peak Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/klone_peak_lookout/chelan_national_forest_092.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Klone Peak, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/klone-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Klone Peak 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.

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, 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.