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Fire lookout · Skagit County, Washington

Lookout Mountain Lookout (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie NF)

Also known as Lookout Mountain

Skagit County lookout in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie NF: a 1928 cupola, a current R-6 cab dated 1961 to 1967, open to the public with first-come overnight stays.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Open to the public year round; access limited by road and trail conditions; first-come overnight stays; recreation pass required per vehicle; catwalk limited to two people per side.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Lookout Mountain-Monogram Lake Trail 743: 3.5 miles through timber, then 1.2 miles of meadows (Forest Service). TrailChick gives just over 4.5 miles one way and calls the upper slope a major avalanche hazard, with winter attempts possible only with extreme caution.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerLive-in 15x15-ft R-6 flat-roof cab on a 30-ft treated timber towerThe design: R-6
Built of
Wood
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
5,631 ft (1,716 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Skagit County, Washington
Coordinates
48.55207, −121.32929
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-lookout-mountain-mt-baker-snoqualmie-nf

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1928 BuiltFirst lookout, a cathedral-style cupola, per the register and TrailChick. The Forest Service dates the structure it replaced to 1929.Sources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com
  2. 1929 BuiltEarlier structure per the Forest Service; firelookout.com says the site was established in 1929Sources: fs.usda.gov, firelookout.com
  3. No record between 1929 and 1961
  4. 1961 BuiltPresent 30-ft R-6 tower per firelookout.comSource: firelookout.com
  5. 1962 BuiltPresent tower replacing the 1929 structure, per the register's Built field and the Forest ServiceSources: fs.usda.gov, nhlr.org
  6. 1967 Replaced by a new structureCab or structure dated 1967 per the register's cab description and TrailChickSources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com
  7. No record between 1967 and 2008
  8. 2008 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 2, 2008Source: nhlr.org
  9. 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.

Lookout Mountain sits in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, five miles east of Marblemount in Skagit County, Washington.1 The Forest Service describes a hike of 3.5 miles through timber, then 1.2 miles across meadows, on the Lookout Mountain-Monogram Lake Trail.2

The first lookout was a cathedral-style cupola erected in 1928, according to the register.3 The Forest Service says the structure it replaced dated to 1929.2 Dates for the current tower vary. One site gives 1961,1 the register and the Forest Service give 1962,3,2 and the register's own description and a trail guide give 1967.3,4

The register describes a live-in 15-by-15-foot R-6 cab.3 Its 2008 visit report recorded the lookout as not staffed.3

Today the lookout is open to the public year round, though road and trail conditions can limit access.2 Overnight stays are first come, first served, and volunteers maintain the building.4 The Forest Service warns that the catwalks can collapse, so it limits them to two people per side, and a recreation pass is required for each vehicle at the trailhead.2

One trip guide puts the climb at just over 4.5 miles and calls the upper slope a major avalanche hazard, urging extreme caution on winter attempts.4 Check current Forest Service conditions before you go.2

  1. Lookout Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Fire Lookout, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/lookoutmtn129b.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Lookout Mountain Lookout, U.S. Forest Service, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mbs/recreation/lookout-mountain-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Lookout Mountain Lookout (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie NF), National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/lookout-mountain-lookout-mt-baker-snoqualmie-nf/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Lookout Mountain, TrailChick, https://trailchick.com/wa-state-fire-lookouts/lookout-mountain/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Lookout Mountain Lookout (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie NF)
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout Mtn. in 1961
Lookout Mtn. in 1961 (1961)Photo: Bob Pfeifer and Dan Trudeau, via firelookout.com · source
Lookout Mtn. in 1961
Lookout Mtn. in 1961 (1961)Photo: Bob Pfeifer and Dan Trudeau, via firelookout.com · source
Lookout Mtn. L.O.
Lookout Mtn. L.OPhoto: Bob Pfeifer and Dan Trudeau, via firelookout.com · source
Lookout Mtn. in 2005
Lookout Mtn. in 2005 (2005)Photo: Bob Pfeifer and Dan Trudeau, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Lookout Mountain Lookout (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie NF)
Photo: TrailChick Washington lookout guide (trailchick.com) · source

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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: 1962
    • OpenStreetMap: 1967
    • TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts: 1967

    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: 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: what it is built of, register numbers, access, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. 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
  6. TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts Gave us: design, 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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.