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Fire lookout · Yakima County, Washington

Midway Lookout Site

Yakima County summit on the Cascade crest: 1934 L-4 cab, removed or destroyed in 1952; Willhite's photo captions show footings and the summit is now reached by trail.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed or destroyed in 1952 (sources differ on which); photo captions on Willhite's page show footings on the summit rock

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
Trail
Reached on foot from the Midway PCT trailhead; Willhite lists 1.8 miles and about 800 feet of gain, and says the old road is now a trail, overgrown in places. No source says whether the summit is open to visitors.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerFrame tower with observation cab; 16-by-16-foot L-4 cab built 1934 (Willhite)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,236 ft (1,596 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Yakima County, Washington
Coordinates
46.36121, −121.50579
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-midway

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 4.0 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 Built16-by-16-foot L-4 cab built (Willhite); firetower.org and FireLookout.com date the tower to the 1930sSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 EventGarage built and panoramic photos taken from the roof in the same year (Willhite)Source: willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1934 and 1952
  4. 1952 DestroyedFireLookout.com and Willhite say destroyed in 1952Sources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1952 RemovedFiretower.org says the tower was removed in 1952; Forest Lookouts lists it as removed, without a yearSource: firetower.org
  6. No record between 1952 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered August 11, 2012 as US 1373, WA 273; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  8. 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.

Midway Lookout is set on the Cascade crest, between Mount Adams and the Goat Rocks.1 It is about 11 miles north of Mount Adams, in Yakima County and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.2,3 The U.S. Forest Service administers the site.3

The site began with a crow's nest, a platform set high in some trees.1 In 1934 a 16-by-16-foot L-4 cab went up, and its lower storage area had one corner set on a 20-foot boulder.1 That same year a garage was added, and panoramic photos were taken from the roof.1 Firetower.org describes the tower as built in the 1930s.3

The sources disagree on how the lookout ended.3,2,1,4 Firetower.org says it was removed in 1952, and Forest Lookouts lists it as removed.3,4 FireLookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed that year.2,1

Willhite says the site once had road access, but it is now a trail from the Midway PCT trailhead, with a few overgrown spots.1 He lists the hike at 1.8 miles with about 800 feet of gain.1 Photo captions on his page show two lower footings and an upper footing on the summit rock.1 A 1935 caption places the Midway Guard Station below the lookout, and another says an old garage at Midway Creek Guard Station was still standing in 2018.1 No source says whether the summit is open to visitors.

  1. Midway Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/midway_lookout/gifford_pinchot_315.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Midway Fire Lookout Tower, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/midway.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Midway Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/midway-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Midway, Forest Lookouts (Washington), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/midway.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Midway Lookout
Midway LookoutPhoto: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Midway Lookout
Midway LookoutPhoto: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Midway Lookout panoramic 7-27-1934 (N)
Midway Lookout panoramic 7-27-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Midway Lookout panoramic 7-27-1934 (SE)
Midway Lookout panoramic 7-27-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Midway Lookout panoramic 7-27-1934 (SW)
Midway Lookout panoramic 7-27-1934 (SW) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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, 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.