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Fire lookout · Stevens County, Washington

Miller Mountain Lookout Site

Stevens County, WA lookout on the Spokane Indian Reservation: first built 1932, a 78-foot tower reported in 1935, removed or destroyed in 1962; the summit now holds a communication site.

Tribal land: permission required

This site is on tribal land. Ask the tribe for permission before visiting, and follow its rules. Tribal land on the Spokane Indian Reservation; WillhiteWeb says access past the houses is probably allowed by old easements

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The lookout is gone. A communication structure stands at the summit.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Tribal land: permission required. See the warning at the top of this page.

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Dirt road to the top, with ruts in places; the parking area is at the summit

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower3-legged wooden tower with 7x7 ft cab, tent and cabin (1932); L-4 cab living quarters added 1934The design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1932
Height
78 ft (23.8 m)
Elevation
3,115 ft (950 m)
Agency
Spokane Indian Reservation
Land
Tribal land
Location
Stevens County, Washington
Coordinates
48.00621, −118.32222
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-miller-mountain

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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.9 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. 1932 BuiltFirst lookout: 3-legged wooden tower with 7x7 ft cab, tent and cabinSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 AlteredL-4 cab living quarters addedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1935 EventNewspaper item says a 78-foot lookout tower was completed; it does not match the 1932 date (see notes_for_editor)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1935 and 1962
  5. 1962 Destroyedfirelookout.com says destroyed in 1962Source: firelookout.com
  6. 1962 RemovedRemoved in 1962 per the register; WillhiteWeb says removed or destroyedSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1962 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 16, 2012 on the Former Fire Lookout Sites registerSource: firetower.org
  9. 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.

Miller Mountain stands on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Stevens County, about 18 miles west-northwest of Wellpinit.1,2 The register says the Spokane Indian Reservation administers the site, which makes it tribal land.1

The register says the first lookout was built in 1932: a three-legged wooden tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab, plus a tent and a cabin. An L-4 cab for living quarters followed in 1934.1,2

A Spokesman-Review item dated August 17, 1935, reprinted on the Forest Lookouts page, says the 78-foot lookout tower on Miller Mountain was completed and that Morris Ledoen put it up.3 The same page quotes a federal survey station description that gives the tower's height as 75 feet.3 The sources do not reconcile the 1932 date with the 1935 item.1,3

Sources differ on how the tower ended. The register says it was removed in 1962, firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year, and WillhiteWeb says removed or destroyed.1,2,4 The Forest Lookouts page marks it as removed.3

The summit now has a parking area and a new communication structure.4 WillhiteWeb reports that the old lookout's foundation is on higher ground a short walk south of the parking area, and that other footings beside the parking area are likely a former communication structure.4 The road to the top is dirt, with ruts in places, and the page describes the site as drive-up.4

The upper half of the road passes houses and signs of private property. WillhiteWeb thinks old easements probably allow access there.4 Because the site is on the reservation, ask before you go and do not assume open access.1

  1. Miller Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/miller-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Miller Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/millermtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Miller Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/miller-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Miller Mountain Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/miller_mountain/tower_343.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Miller Mountain Lookout site
Miller Mountain Lookout sitePhoto: Eric Willhite, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Miller Mountain Lookout site
Miller Mountain Lookout sitePhoto: Eric Willhite, 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, register numbers, agency, ownership, access, 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: height, 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.