FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Yakima County, Washington

Mount Adams Lookout

Gifford Pinchot NF summit cabin: D-6 cupola built 1918, staffed about 1921-1924, now usually buried in snow and ice. NHLR-registered 2009.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. On the summit of Mount Adams, reached only by a long mountaineering climb. No managed access, permit or rental is described in the sources read.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Reached only by climbing Mount Adams. TrailChick says even the least technical route can require an ice axe, crampons and mountaineering gear, and conditions change rapidly. The cabin is usually buried in snow and ice.
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2019)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cab12 by 12 foot wood-frame D-6 cupola ground cabin with a quarter-size second-story cupola; two lean-to additions from the 1932 sulfur miningThe design: D-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1918
Height
Unknown
Elevation
12,276 ft (3,742 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Yakima County, Washington
Coordinates
46.20242, −121.49083
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-mount-adams

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 3.7 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. 1917 EventForest Service began moving materials to the summitSource: trailchick.com
  2. 1918 BuiltConstruction of the D-6 cupola cabin began; NHLR gives 1918 as the build yearSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, trailchick.com
  3. 1921 EventCompletion of the cabin. troutlake.org says construction ended in 1921; TrailChick says completed 1922Sources: troutlake.org, trailchick.com
  4. 1921 First staffedIn service as a fire lookout from 1921 (NHLR and TrailChick); firelookout.com says staffed from 1922Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, trailchick.com
  5. 1923 EventLightning blew the lookout door off and melted its hingesSource: troutlake.org
  6. 1924 AbandonedForest Service decided to abandon the lookout in 1924; TrailChick says it was retired in 1925Sources: firelookout.com, trailchick.com, troutlake.org
  7. 1924 Last staffedLast year of staffing (1921-1924 or 1922-1924 by sources)Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, trailchick.com
  8. 1932 AlteredSulfur miners began extracting sulfur from the summit vent, lived in the cabin and added two lean-to additionsSources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com
  9. No record between 1932 and 2009
  10. 2009 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterNHLR registration date November 30, 2009 as US 840, WA 58Source: nhlr.org
  11. 2019 Condition assessmentNHLR visit report (Aug 31, 2019): glass not intact, wood condition OK, not staffed, climbers sheltering on the roofSource: nhlr.org
  12. 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.

The Forest Service set out in 1917 to put a fire lookout on the summit of Mount Adams, in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.1,2 Supplies went up by mule as far as the glacier, then crews hauled them the rest of the way with ropes and sleds.2 The D-6 cupola cabin was built in 1918, but accounts differ on when it was finished, with 1921 and 1922 both given.1,2,3

The cabin was in service as a lookout from about 1921 to 1924.1 Crews hauled their own supplies, cleared snow from the windows and doors, and kept the single phone line intact.3 In 1923 lightning blew the door off.3 The Forest Service gave up the lookout in 1924, though one account puts the retirement in 1925.4,2,3

Sulfur miners moved into the cabin in the early 1930s and added two lean-to rooms.1,2 Since the mid-20th century the building has mostly been buried in snow and ice, and it is exposed for only a few weeks in the driest summers.1,2 A 2019 visit report said the glass was no longer intact and the site was not staffed.1

Reaching the cabin means climbing the mountain.2 TrailChick says even the least technical route may call for an ice axe and crampons, and that conditions on the mountain can turn fast.2 The cabin itself is often hidden under snow and ice, so anyone who goes up should expect to see little of it.2

  1. Mount Adams Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/mount-adams-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Mount Adams Lookout, TrailChick, https://trailchick.com/wa-state-fire-lookouts/mount-adams-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. History of Mt. Adams, TroutLake.org, https://troutlake.org/history/mt-adams/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Mt. Adams Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/mtadams.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount Adams Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
October 2015
October 2015 (2015)Photo: Ray Kresek, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
October 2015
October 2015 (2015)Photo: Ray Kresek, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
August 2019 photo
August 2019 photo (2019)Photo: Mariah Williams, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mt. Adams in 1980
Mt. Adams in 1980 (1980)Photo: Mike Hardy, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Mount Adams 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, 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: what it is built of, 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: 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. TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts Gave us: photos, links 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. 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, staffing, 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.