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Fire lookout · Skagit County, Washington

Mount Higgins Lookout Site

Also known as Higgins Mount

Skagit County lookout site: camp in 1918, cupola cabin around 1922-23, fire detection to 1949 per USFS, collapsed under snow around 1965; ruins remain and Trail 640 reaches the site.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cabin collapsed under heavy snow in or around 1965; ruins remain 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. Forest Service Trail 640 leads to the former lookout site; older WillhiteWeb directions describe a gated road

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Forest Service Trail 640: the first mile climbs steeply up an old road; directions start from the Darrington Ranger District office and take Highway 530 west

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cab12-foot square wooden cabin with a 6-foot square cupola (1950 USGS description)The design: Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1918
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,849 ft (1,478 m)
Agency
Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Skagit County, Washington
Coordinates
48.31102, −121.79503
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-mount-higgins

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 4.4 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. 1918 BuiltCamp lookout set up (WillhiteWeb says the camp probably started about two years earlier)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1920 EventContract submitted to build a cab on the site (April 1920, per WillhiteWeb)Source: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1922 BuiltCupola cabin replaced the camp, per the Former Fire Lookout Sites register and firelookout.com; other sources date completion to 1923Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  4. 1923 BuiltConstruction of the cupola cabin completed in September 1923 (Forest Lookouts quoting a newspaper; WillhiteWeb)Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1926 First staffedUsed for fire detection in the summers from 1926, per the Forest ServiceSource: fs.usda.gov
  6. 1933 FireLookout reported a fire at an old slash burn; two trucks with 35 CCC men sent; the fire was then reported apparently outSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1935 EventPanoramic photos taken from the cupola (July 18, 1935)Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  8. 1949 AbandonedForest Lookouts says abandoned in 1949; WillhiteWeb says abandoned at some point in the 1950sSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  9. 1949 Last staffedFire detection use ran through 1949, per the Forest ServiceSource: fs.usda.gov
  10. 1951 FireAugust 1951 fire discovered and reported by the lookout (newspaper item quoted by Forest Lookouts and WillhiteWeb); later than the 1949 end dateSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  11. 1965 DestroyedCabin destroyed by snow, or collapsed under heavy snow, in or around 1965Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  12. No record between 1965 and 2012
  13. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: March 26, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  14. 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 lookout stood on the western sub-summit of Mount Higgins, in Skagit County, roughly midway between Darrington and Oso.1

A camp was set up on Mount Higgins in 1918.2,3 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register and firelookout.com say a cupola cabin replaced the camp in 1922.2,4 The Forest Lookouts page quotes a September 1923 notice that a new lookout house had just been completed, and WillhiteWeb says a contract to build a cab was submitted in April 1920 and finished in September 1923.3,5 The sources differ by a year, so both dates stand here.

A 1950 USGS party recorded it as a 12-foot-square wooden structure, painted white and topped by a 6-foot-square cupola.5

The Forest Service says the lookout was used for fire detection in the summers from 1926 to 1949.6 In September 1933 the lookout flagged a fire on the edge of an old slash burn. Thirty-five CCC men left the Darrington Ranger Station in two trucks, and the lookout later reported the fire apparently out.3,5 In the late 1930s Bob Craig was on duty there, according to WillhiteWeb.5

The sources do not agree on when use ended. In August 1951 the lookout spotted a fire and reported it, according to an Arlington Times item quoted on two of these sites.3,5 Forest Lookouts says the lookout was abandoned in 1949, while WillhiteWeb says it was abandoned at some point in the 1950s.3,5

Snow brought the cabin down around 1965. Firetower.org says snow destroyed it that year, and WillhiteWeb says it collapsed under heavy snow in 1965 or thereabouts.2,5

Ruins remain on the mountain, according to WillhiteWeb.5 The Forest Service calls the summit the site of the former lookout, reached by Trail 640, and says the first mile of that trail climbs an old road.6 The Forest Service directions start at the Darrington Ranger District office: take Highway 530 west for 11.8 miles.6 Older directions on WillhiteWeb describe a gated road that is a walk or bike of about 3 miles, so check current conditions before you go.5

  1. Mount Higgins, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Higgins (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mount Higgins Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/mount-higgins-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mount Higgins, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/mount-higgins.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mt. Higgins Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/higgins.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Mt. Higgins Fire Lookout, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/mt_higgins_lookout/darrington_066.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Mt. Higgins Trail 640, USDA Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mbs/recreation/trails/mt-higgins-trail-640 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Mount Higgins Lookout 1931
Mount Higgins Lookout 1931 (1931)Photo: Chad Kinzel collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mount Higgins Lookout panoramic 7-18-1935 (SE)
Mount Higgins Lookout panoramic 7-18-1935 (SE) (1935)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mount Higgins Lookout panoramic 7-18-1935 (SW)
Mount Higgins Lookout panoramic 7-18-1935 (SW) (1935)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mount Higgins Lookout panoramic 7-18-1935 (N)
Mount Higgins Lookout panoramic 7-18-1935 (N) (1935)Photo: National Archives - Pacific Northwest Region, via 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

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