FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Skagit County, Washington

Mebee Pass Lookout

Last known L-5 cab, Okanogan NF; built 1933 or 1934 (sources differ); probably abandoned 1941; volunteers restored it in 2013; hike-in only.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Hike-in site on national forest land. The sources read give no closure notice or entry rule for the cab and no current trail report.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Hike-in only. The 2013 chapter report describes brushing out 8+ miles of trail to the lookout. Check current trail conditions with the Methow Valley Ranger District before going.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 prefabricated cabThe design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,972 ft (2,125 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Okanogan National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Skagit County, Washington
Coordinates
48.63132, −120.77987 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-mebee-pass

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 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. 1933 Builtfirelookout.com gives 1933 for the L-5 cab; TrailChick gives 1934 for the current structureSources: firelookout.com, trailchick.com
  2. 1941 Abandonedfirelookout.com says the cab was probably abandoned in 1941Source: firelookout.com
  3. No record between 1941 and 2002
  4. 2002 RestoredTwo FFLA members hiked in and found it severely neglected; a helicopter brought materials for emergency repairs. firelookout.com records some preservation work in 2002Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  5. 2013 Event$200 grant from the Chuck Butler Memorial Lookout Restoration Fund plus a $500 donation from the chapterSource: firelookout.org
  6. 2013 RestoredTrail cleared by Scurlock and volunteers; foundation and roof repaired, walls repaired, lightning rod installed. MVFFLA calls this the last restoration work on MebeeSources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com, mvffla.org
  7. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate Registered April 12, 2022Source: nhlr.org
  8. 2023 RestoredA volunteer carpenter rebuilt the shutters from historical blueprints to replace temporary plywood ones, with an airlift to the summit planned.Source: mvffla.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.

Mebee Pass Lookout is a small L-5 cab in the Okanogan National Forest, about 18 miles west of Mazama.1,2 The L-5 cabs were prefabricated. The Forest Service typically moved them to secondary lookout sites by horse or mule, and crews staffed them temporarily when fire danger ran high.1 firelookout.com considers it the final known L-5 cab to survive.2 Sources disagree on the build year: firelookout.com says 1933, while TrailChick gives 1934 for the current structure.2,3

The sources read do not name a lookout who worked here or record a fire the cab helped spot.1,2 firelookout.com says the cab was likely abandoned in 1941.2

By 2002, two members of the Forest Fire Lookout Association who hiked in found the cab badly neglected, and a helicopter airlifted supplies for emergency repairs.1 firelookout.com also records some preservation work that year.2 In 2013, John Scurlock, a group of volunteers and Methow Valley District Ranger Mike Liu set about clearing the trail. Crews cut through hundreds of fallen trees, and they rigged a log crossing over Granite Creek, where a bridge had been out for years.1 The 2013 chapter report says the work included brushing out at least eight miles of trail to the lookout.4

Work included a new roof, a repaired foundation and walls, and a lightning rod.1 The crew had $3,000 in donations, and helicopters flew in 1,100 pounds of equipment.1 The chapter donated $500, and the Chuck Butler Memorial Lookout Restoration Fund contributed $200.4 The Methow Valley FFLA credits the Friends of Mebee Pass with the final restoration work, done in 2013.5 The site was registered on the National Historic Lookout Register on April 12, 2022.1

The Methow Valley FFLA says new shutters are coming, rebuilt from old plans to replace temporary plywood ones.5 The group is also working with the Methow Valley Ranger District on a plan to fly the shutters and other supplies in.5 The cached post gives only the day and month, so the year of that plan is not confirmed here.

TrailChick lists it as a hike-in and calls the trip to it an adventure.3 The sources read say nothing about rentals, current rules for entering the cab, or recent trail reports. Check with the Methow Valley Ranger District before planning a trip.

  1. Mebee Pass Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/mebee-pass-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Mebee Pass Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/mebeepass.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Mebee Pass, TrailChick, https://www.trailchick.com/wa-state-fire-lookouts/mebee-pass-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter report, 2013 (cr-ewa-2013.pdf), https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/cr-ewa-2013.pdf (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Mebee Pass Shutter Restoration, Methow Valley FFLA, https://www.mvffla.org/news/mebee-pass-shutter-restoration (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Mebee Pass Lookout - 2018
Mebee Pass Lookout - 2018 (2018)Photo: Christine Estrada, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mebee Pass Lookout - 2002
Mebee Pass Lookout - 2002 (2002)Photo: Barry George, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1935
1935 (1935)Photo: Christine Estrada Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mebee Pass 2002
Mebee Pass 2002 (2002)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Mebee Pass 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 location by 790 m.

    • NHLR: 48.63132, −120.77987
    • FFLA: 48.63729, −120.77396
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 48.63729, −120.77396

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from NHLR.

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, dates, 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. Methow Valley Forest Fire Lookout Association Gave us: dates, links Methow Valley Forest Fire Lookout Association (mvffla.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the association's post 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) 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 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 Gave us: links 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. 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
  10. 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

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