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Fire lookout · Stevens County, Washington

Monumental Mountain Lookout Site (now at Fosback)

Also known as Fosback Lookout

Washington DNR lookout built 1965 on Monumental Mountain, Stevens County; removed 1996; top 10 feet rebuilt on Rod Fosback's private land; NHLR-registered 1999.

Private land

No public access. Please do not trespass; view it only from public land. On private land overlooking the Little Pend Oreille River; no visiting arrangement is described

Original site: Monumental Mountain Lookout Site (Colville NF)

Visit & stay

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

Access

Private land. See the warning at the top of this page.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerFlat-top 14-by-14-foot DNR cab with catwalk on a 10-foot wood tower (NHLR); the FFLOS record describes the original as a 40-foot DNR timber tower
Built of
Wood
Built
1945
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,647 ft (1,112 m)
Agency
Rod Fosback (private owner)
Land
Unknown
Location
Stevens County, Washington
Coordinates
48.54022, −117.62142
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-monumental-mountain-lookout-site-at-fosback

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. 1945 Built60-foot pole tower with cabin built on Monumental Mountain (FFLOS); a 1945 road and observation cabin are reported by the Forest Lookouts pageSources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1945 First staffedDan Reeder of Rice employed as lookout at the summit cabinSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1945 and 1965
  4. 1965 BuiltWashington DNR built a 40-foot timber tower with a live-in cab, replacing the 1945 tower. The Forest Lookouts page gives 1964-66Sources: nhlr.org, firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1965 and 1980
  6. 1980 Last staffedFFLOS says last staffed in 1980; the Register says staffed until the mid 1980sSources: firetower.org, nhlr.org
  7. No record between 1980 and 1996
  8. 1996 MovedSold to FFLA member Rod Fosback, who moved it to his own woodland (Register)Sources: nhlr.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1996 RemovedTower removed from the summit to make room for another radio towerSources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1998 Movedfirelookout.com says Fosback rescued the tower and placed it on his hillside property in 1998Source: firelookout.com
  11. 1999 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered November 18, 1999 as US 330, WA 36; nominated by Ray Kresek, Washington RegistrarSource: nhlr.org
  12. Date unknown MovedMoved from Monumental Mountain to Fosback.Source: FFLA
  13. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The tower that is now Fosback Lookout was first built on Monumental Mountain, on the summit between Colville and Rice in Stevens County, Washington.1,2 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's record describes a 60-foot pole tower with a cabin from 1945, replaced in 1965 by a 40-foot timber tower with a live-in cab built by the Washington Department of Natural Resources.3 The Register gives the same 1965 date and says the new tower took the place of a state tower from 1945.1

A 1945 item quoted by the Forest Lookouts page reports that the first stage of the road to the lookout was finished and that a summit observation cabin was in place, with Dan Reeder of Rice working as the lookout.2 A 1952 item says the lookout was to be manned in the near future.2 The Association says the tower was last staffed in 1980, while the Register says it was staffed until the mid-1980s.3,1

The Association says the tower came down in 1996 so that a second radio tower could go on the summit.3 The Register says it was sold that year to Rod Fosback, a member of the Forest Fire Lookout Association, who moved it to his own woodland.1 The Forest Lookouts page also gives 1996 for the sale.2 The firelookout.com page says Fosback rescued the tower and placed it on his hillside property in 1998.4 The sources give both years and do not explain the gap.

What stands today is the top section.1,3 According to the Register, the cab is 14 by 14 feet with a flat top and a catwalk, on a 10-foot wood tower.1 The Association says Fosback rebuilt the top 10 feet of the tower with its cab on his land east of Colville.3 Those accounts agree on the 10 feet but not on the original height, which the Association gives as 40 feet.3

The Register places the lookout on private land above the Little Pend Oreille River.1 The Register adds that the Fosback family would staff it as volunteers when fire conditions call for it.1 None of the sources describes a visiting arrangement, so treat it as private property and ask the owners before any visit.

  1. Fosback Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/fosback-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Monumental Mountain, Forest Lookouts (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/monumental-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Monumental Mountain Lookout Site (Stevens County), Former Fire Lookout Sites (firetower.org), https://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/monumental-mountain-lookout-site-stevens-county/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Fosback Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/fosback.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Fosback Lookout
Fosback LookoutPhoto: Rod Fosback, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
The Lookout in it's original Monumental Mountain Location - 1996
The Lookout in it's original Monumental Mountain Location - 1996 (1996)Photo: Rod Fosback, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Winter scene at Fosback Lookout
Winter scene at Fosback LookoutPhoto: Rod Fosback, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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: name, type, status, register numbers, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, 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.