FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Monument 83 (Holdover Peak) Lookout

Also known as Monument 83

Border site: 1920s camp, 1930 log cupola now in BC, 1953 US L-4 tower (TrailChick says 1952), last used 1970s; hike-in in Pasayten Wilderness.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Hike-in only, in the Pasayten Wilderness. The sources read describe no closure.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Firelookout.com gives a 10-mile trail from the Canadian side or 30 miles from the US side through the Pasayten Wilderness. TrailChick calls it a good winter ski-touring spot if the trail is clear of fallen trees.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower1930 log cupola cabin (now in Canada) and 30 ft L-4 timber tower (1953)The designs: L-4, Cupola house
Built of
Wood
Also served as
Aircraft Warning Service postDuring the Second World War it was staffed to spot and report aircraft.
Built
1930
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
6,520 ft (1,987 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Okanogan National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
49.00019, −120.64524
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-monument-83-holdover-peak

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1920 EventCamp with a tree platform first established in the 1920sSource: nhlr.org
  2. 1929 StaffedKnown lookout personnel: Fred VanderpoolSource: firelookout.com
  3. 1930 BuiltLog cabin cupola constructed and celebrated as northernmost US lookout; later surveys placed it a few feet inside CanadaSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  4. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service site, July to September 1942Source: nhlr.org
  5. 1952 StaffedKnown lookout personnel: Holden WhiteSource: firelookout.com
  6. 1953 Built30 ft treated timber L-4 tower built on the US side. TrailChick gives 1952 for this towerSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, trailchick.com
  7. No record between 1953 and 1970
  8. 1970 Last staffedLast used for emergencies in the 1970sSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  9. No record between 1970 and 2022
  10. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterDate Registered April 12, 2022Source: nhlr.org
  11. 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.

Monument 83, also called Holdover Peak, sits on the US-Canada border in the Okanogan National Forest and the Pasayten Wilderness.1,2,3 The name marks its place on the border, 83 miles from the zero point at Peace Arch Park in Surrey, British Columbia.1

The site's first use came in the 1920s, when a camp with a tree platform stood here.1 In 1930 a log cupola cabin went up.1 For a while it was counted as the northernmost lookout in the US, until surveys placed it a few feet inside Canada.1,2 It is now British Columbia's southernmost lookout.2

In 1953 the US built a 30-foot treated timber L-4 tower on its side of the line.1,2 That made the site the northernmost lookout in Washington and the United States again.1 TrailChick dates the tower to 1952, so the sources disagree on that year.3

firelookout.com names two known staff members: Fred Vanderpool in 1929 and Holden White in 1952.2 The lookouts' last use came in the 1970s.1 The NHLR also records a stint as an Aircraft Warning Service site from July to September 1942.1 The sources read do not record a fire spotted from the site.1,2,3

Both structures are described as still intact.1,2 The site is a hike-in, reached by trail.2,3 firelookout.com puts the trail at 10 miles from the Canadian side, or 30 miles from the US side across the Pasayten Wilderness.2 TrailChick calls it a good winter ski-touring spot if the trail is clear of fallen trees.3

A carved wooden gravestone at the site bears an inscription naming Pasayten Pete, a pack mule said to have been well loved.1 The sources read do not give current trail conditions, so check with the Okanogan National Forest before planning a trip.1,2,3

  1. Monument 83 (Holdover Peak) Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/monument-83-holdover-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Monument 83 Lookout, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/monument83.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Monument 83, TrailChick, https://www.trailchick.com/wa-state-fire-lookouts/monument-83-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Monument 83 (Holdover Peak) Lookout - 2019
Monument 83 (Holdover Peak) Lookout - 2019 (2019)Photo: Christine Estrada, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Monument 83 in 1930
Monument 83 in 1930 (1930)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Tammy McLeod, via firelookout.com · source
Monument 83 in the 1930's
Monument 83 in the 1930's (1930)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Tammy McLeod, via firelookout.com · source
Monument 83 in 2003
Monument 83 in 2003 (2003)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Tammy McLeod, via firelookout.com · source
Monument 83 in 2003
Monument 83 in 2003 (2003)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Tammy McLeod, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Monument 83 (Holdover Peak) 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.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, wartime use, 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: design, 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. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: height 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. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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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