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Fire lookout · Chelan County, Washington

Mount David Lookout Site

Chelan County, WA lookout site: an L-4 cab built in 1933 and removed in 1974; a hiker's trip report describes old remains on the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed in 1974; a hiker's trip report (undated) describes old remains of a lookout on the summit

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Reached on foot by a trail from the White River; no official access rule in the sources read

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Hike from the White River: cross the White River on a big bridge, then climb 3000 feet of switchbacks to the ridge (hiker's trip report)

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,420 ft (2,262 m)
Agency
Wenatchee National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Chelan County, Washington
Coordinates
47.96291, −120.98977
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-mount-david

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 4.0 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. 1931 EventLookout was to be stationed on Mount David that week, but the opening was postponed because of snow (Wenatchee Daily World, as quoted by Forest Lookouts)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1933 BuiltL-4 cab builtSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1933 First staffedMagnus Bakke named as Mount David lookout (Leavenworth Echo, June 1933, as quoted by Forest Lookouts)Sources: firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1934 EventPanorama photos taken August 22, 1934Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1948 StaffedJim Currie was the lookoutSource: willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1948 and 1974
  7. 1974 BurnedCab burned with helicopter help to remove debris (WillhiteWeb)Source: willhiteweb.com
  8. 1974 RemovedCab removedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  9. No record between 1974 and 2012
  10. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: August 22, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  11. 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.

Mount David rises in Chelan County, in the Wenatchee National Forest.1,2 On July 2, 1931, the Wenatchee Daily World reported that a lookout was to be stationed there that week, but the opening had been postponed because of snow.2

The cab went up in 1933. Former Fire Lookout Sites and firelookout.com both describe it as an L-4 cab built that year.3,1 In June 1933 the Leavenworth Echo named Magnus Bakke as the Mount David lookout.2

Jim Currie was the lookout in 1948, and he bragged that his station was the roughest in the district.4

The cab came down in 1974. Former Fire Lookout Sites and firelookout.com both give that year for its removal, and Willhiteweb says it was burned, with a helicopter's assistance, to clear away debris.3,1,4

Willhiteweb says panoramic photos were taken in 1974, but its own captions and the Forest Lookouts page date the panoramas to August 22, 1934.2,4

You reach the site on foot. A hiker's trip report on Willhiteweb describes crossing the White River on a big bridge, then climbing 3000 feet of switchbacks to the ridge.4 On the summit, the same report found old remains of a lookout, and it says the outhouse hole, which it puts at 500 feet deep, is still there.4

  1. Mt. David Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/mtdavid.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mount David, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/mount-david.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mount David Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/mount-david-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mt. David, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/white_river/mount_david_014.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount David 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, what it is built of, 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: 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.