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Fire lookout · Skamania County, Washington

Lookout Mountain Lookout Site (Skamania County)

Also known as Lookout Mountain

Gifford Pinchot NF, Skamania County, WA; a D-6 cupola cabin from about 1920, L-4 towers of the 1930s and 1941, a 1970 removal, and no source describing the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed in 1970 per FFLOS and Willhite; FireLookout.com says destroyed in 1970.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerD-6 cupola cabin (1920s), then wooden L-4 tower(s); FFLOS says one 20-foot L-4 tower from 1941, FireLookout.com and Willhite say 10-foot L-4 towersThe designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1920
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,222 ft (1,287 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Skamania County, Washington
Coordinates
45.79967, −122.10425
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-lookout-mountain-skamania-county

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 4.2 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. 1919 EventNewspaper notice said a lookout would be provided on the mountain that summer; Willhite says the cabin was likely delayed about a yearSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1920 BuiltD-6 cupola cabin, per Willhite; an August 1920 Spokesman-Review story describes a standard lookout house finished on the summit. FFLOS dates the cabin only to the 1920sSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1927 FireDuring August 1927 fires on the Columbia National Forest a newspaper said the Siouxon, Gumboot and Lookout Mountain stations were believed likely to burn and the instruments removed and houses abandonedSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1933 FireLightning set an old snag no more than 150 feet from the lookout cabin on fire on August 29; the lookout reported it and a five-person crew from Co. 605 put it out that evening. A Lookout Mountain Camp was in operation at this timeSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1934 StaffedIn a 2002 interview, Pete Paladeni recalled CCC camp work near Lookout Mountain in 1934 and said he was stationed at the lookout about three weeksSource: willhiteweb.com
  6. 1941 Replaced by a new structureFFLOS: a 20-foot wooden L-4 tower replaced the cabin in 1941. FireLookout.com lists a 10-foot L-4 tower dated 1941 with a question mark. Willhite places a second 10-foot L-4 cab in the early 1940sSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1941 and 1964
  8. 1964 EventForest Service said regular air patrols were expected to take over detection work from its lookouts; Lookout Mountain was one of six stations retained, mainly for communications coverageSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1970 RemovedTower removed per FFLOS and Willhite; FireLookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  10. No record between 1970 and 2012
  11. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered June 24, 2012 as US 1328, WA 228; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  12. 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.

Lookout Mountain stands in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, in Skamania County, Washington, about thirteen miles northwest of Stevenson.1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register lists the summit at 4,222 feet and gives the U.S. Forest Service as the administrator.2

The first structure on the peak was a D-6 cupola cabin.3 A June 1919 newspaper notice said the mountain would get a lookout that summer.4 Willhite suggests the cabin was likely held up about a year, and an October 1920 report counts a lookout here among three built on the Columbia National Forest that year.4,3 An August 1920 Spokesman-Review story reports that a standard lookout house had just been finished on the summit, with its pre-cut parts hauled in over rough trails from the Wind River valley.4 The site sat in the middle of the Yacolt Burn, an area of about 100,000 acres where a large stand of timber had been killed in 1902.4

The sources disagree about what came next. The register says a 20-foot wooden L-4 tower replaced the cabin in 1941.2 FireLookout.com lists a 10-foot L-4 tower in the 1930s and another 10-foot tower in 1941, though that last date carries a question mark.1 Willhite describes a 10-foot L-4 tower built in the 1930s and a second one placed in the early 1940s.3

A camp operated at the mountain by 1933.4 A report from that summer says lightning set fire to an old snag within 150 feet of the lookout cabin. The lookout reported it, and a five-person crew from Co. 605 had the fire out by evening.4 During the August 1927 fires on the Columbia National Forest, a newspaper said the Siouxon, Gumboot and Lookout Mountain stations were believed likely to burn, and that the instruments had been taken out and the houses vacated.4 In a 2002 interview, Pete Paladeni recalled his CCC camp work near Lookout Mountain in 1934 and said he was stationed on the lookout only about three weeks.3

In 1964 the Forest Service announced that scheduled aerial patrols were expected to take over detection work from its lookouts. Lookout Mountain was one of the six stations kept, chiefly for communications.4

The tower came down in 1970. The register and Willhite say it was removed, while FireLookout.com says it was destroyed.2,1,3

Today, no source we read describes what remains on the summit, and we found nothing on whether the public can reach it. The register entry dates from June 2012.2

  1. Lookout Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/lookoutmtn154.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Lookout Mountain Lookout Site (Skamania County), Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/lookout-mountain-lookout-site-skamania-county/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Lookout Mountain Fire Lookout - Yacolt Burn, Willhite Web, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/lookout_mountain_yacolt/fire_lookout_222.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Lookout Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/lookout-mountain5.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Lookout Mountain Lookout 1926
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1926 (1926)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1936
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1936 (1936)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1936
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1936 (1936)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1964
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1964 (1964)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1969
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1969 (1969)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, staffing, 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

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