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Fire lookout · Chelan/Kittitas County, Washington

Mission Peak Lookout Site

Mission Peak lookout built 1934 near Wenatchee, removed around 1945; a 2019 trip report says it is long gone and the old lookout road is now a trail.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed, possibly around 1945; a 2019 trip report says the lookout is long gone.

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
About 2 miles and 1,000 feet of gain on Rd 330, now a trail, starting from Liberty-Beehive Rd 9712.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower10 ft pole L-4 tower per three histories; a 1934 newspaper describes a 15 ft towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
15 ft (4.6 m)
Elevation
6,878 ft (2,096 m)
Agency
Wenatchee National Forest (U.S. Forest Service)
Land
Federal land
Location
Chelan/Kittitas County, Washington
Coordinates
47.28464, −120.44106
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-mission-peak

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 4.1 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 First staffedJoe Guilberson listed as Mission Peak lookout-fireman (Leavenworth Echo, June 23, 1933); firelookout.com spells it GuibersonSources: firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1934 BuiltBuilt in 1934, or possibly the previous year; 10 ft pole L-4 tower per three historiesSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1934 FireSmall smoke near Schaser Creek reported by the Mission Peak and Three Brothers lookouts; a CCC crew found it was sheep dust (July 1934)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1934 StaffedOscar Kuntz named as the lookout in July and August 1934 newspaper accounts; a photo caption names Hank KuchSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1945 RemovedRemoved at some point; firetower.org and firelookout.com both say it may not have lasted much longer than 1945, WillhiteWeb says possibly around 1945; firelookout.com lists the site as 1934-?Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1945 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: October 21, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  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.

The Mission Peak lookout was built in 1934, or possibly the year before, on a peak near Wenatchee.1,2,3 Three histories describe a 10-foot pole L-4 tower.1,2,3 A 1934 Wenatchee Daily World story, reprinted on one history site, describes a lookout living in a 15-foot tower.4 We could not settle which height is right.

The earliest name we found is Joe Guilberson, listed as Mission Peak's lookout-fireman in June 1933.4 The firelookout.com list spells his name Guiberson.2 Newspapers from July and August 1934 name Oscar Kuntz as the lookout.4 A photo caption on a climbing page names Hank Kuch as the lookout person, and we could not tell whether that is the same man.3

In July 1934 the Mission Peak and Three Brothers lookouts reported a small smoke near Schaser Creek. A CCC crew went out, and investigators concluded the smoke was sheep dust.4 An August 1934 story, told by a forest fire assistant, describes a bear at the lookout's ladder one night. The lookout flashed a light down the ladder, and the bear fled.4

No source gives a firm removal date. Firetower.org says the tower was taken down at an unstated time, possibly soon after 1945.1 Firelookout.com says much the same and lists the site as 1934-?.2 WillhiteWeb says it was removed, possibly around 1945, when the state Division of Forestry developed a lookout on nearby Naneum Ridge.3

A 2019 Washington Trails Association trip report says the lookout is long gone.5 The old lookout road, now a trail, climbs about two miles and 1,000 feet to the summit.5 From the rocky summit the writer describes views all around, and the report does not describe any remains of the lookout.5

The trip report starts from Liberty-Beehive Road 9712, roughly a mile past the Squilchuck State Park junction on the road to Mission Ridge.5

  1. Mission Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/mission-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mission Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/missionpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mission Peak Washington Climbing Information and Map, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/wenatchee/mission_peak_276.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mission Peak - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/mission-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Mission Peak trip report, Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2019-11-07.6139259529 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mission Peak Lookout Site
Photo: 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, 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, 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.