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Fire lookout · Jefferson County, Washington

Kloochman Rock Lookout Site

Olympic NP summit in Jefferson County, WA. A wooden cabin dated 1934 (possibly earlier), an Air Warning station in WWII, torn down about 1957; a helicopter pad remains.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cabin torn down around 1957; a steel-framed helicopter pad stands on the summit where it was

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. Trail-marked route from the end of the road on or near the Olympic National Park boundary. The last few miles of road close in late summer; current conditions not checked.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
0.8 miles and about 550 ft of gain from the road end; trail marked with blue diamonds; ropes help on the final rock block

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabWooden L-4 cabinThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,356 ft (1,023 m)
Agency
National Park Service, Olympic National Park
Land
Federal land
Location
Jefferson County, Washington
Coordinates
47.66939, −123.96784
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-kloochman-rock

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. 1934 BuiltRegister and WillhiteWeb date the cabin to 1934; WillhiteWeb says it likely predates that because it appears on 1930 and 1932 mapsSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1942 StaffedAir Warning Service summer station Kloochman, established March 25, 1942Source: willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1942 and 1957
  4. 1957 RemovedRegister says removed; firelookout.com says destroyed; WillhiteWeb says torn down because it had deterioratedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1957 and 2011
  6. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered February 20, 2011Source: 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.

Kloochman Rock is a summit in Olympic National Park, in Jefferson County, Washington, at 3,356 feet (1,023 m).1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register says its wooden cabin was built in 1934 and removed in 1957.1 It also says the Olympic National Forest built the cabin before the park existed, as with four other park lookouts.1

The sources do not agree on the start date. The register and WillhiteWeb give 1934, but WillhiteWeb notes that the lookout appears on 1930 and 1932 maps and says the cabin most likely dates to before 1934.1,2 firelookout.com calls it an L-4 cabin from the 1930s.3 WillhiteWeb says Wilbur Northup probably built it.2

During the Second World War the lookout served as an Air Warning Service post.2 The same page names a summer station, Kloochman, established March 25, 1942, and says that in winter the observers relocated to the Queets Valley.2

The cabin came down around 1957. The register says it was removed, firelookout.com says it was destroyed, and WillhiteWeb says it was torn down after deteriorating.1,3,2

Today, according to WillhiteWeb, a steel-framed helicopter pad occupies the summit spot where the cabin once stood.2 A photo caption also notes debris from the lookout on a summit block.2

WillhiteWeb gives a route from Highway 101 along Clearwater Road and the C-3000 line, then a trail marked with blue diamonds to the summit, where ropes help on the last rock block. It also warns that the final few miles of road shut down in late summer.2 The register instead suggests the closest approach runs in through DNR land near Yahoo Lake.1 We could not check current road or access conditions.

  1. Kloochman Rock Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/kloochman-rock-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Kloochman Rock Lookout, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/kloochman_rock/olympic_national_park_211.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Kloochman Rock Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/kloochmanrock.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Kloochman Rock Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Kloochman Rock Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Summer 1940
Summer 1940 (1940)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Kloochman Rock 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.