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Fire lookout · Jefferson County, Washington

Mount Jupiter Lookout Site

Jefferson County, WA ground cab on Mount Jupiter (Olympic NF), built 1933-34, burned or removed 1967-68; one small remnant reportedly remains in the summit rocks.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab burned or removed 1967-68; SummitPost says one small remnant is embedded in the summit rocks

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. Hiking trail of about 7 miles to the summit; access road is rough and a wildlife gate on it is closed Oct 1 to May 1

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
About 7.2 miles on the Jupiter Ridge trail (Willhite); long road walk through a logging operation to the trailhead (WTA); check with the Quilcene Ranger District about the gate (SummitPost)

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabR-6 standard plan, 14x14 ft wood-frame ground house (register lists it as a gable-roof L-4 ground cab)The designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
14 ft (4.3 m)
Elevation
5,701 ft (1,738 m)
Agency
Olympic National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Jefferson County, Washington
Coordinates
47.70581, −123.06095
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-mount-jupiter

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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.9 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. 1933 BuiltBuilt 1933 per the register and firelookout.com; Willhite says 1933 or 1934; Forest Lookouts says 1934Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. No record between 1933 and 1956
  3. 1956 StaffedPort Angeles Evening News, July 7, 1956: station still snowed in while other Quilcene district stations were manned; a former colleague's account says a friend was hired for the summerSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1958 StaffedFormer colleague's account says the lookout was staffed again in summer 1958Source: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1967 BurnedRegister: intentionally burned circa 1967; photo caption says intentionally burned in 1967 or 68Source: firetower.org
  6. 1967 Destroyedfirelookout.com: destroyed 1967; Willhite: destroyed 1967 or 68Sources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1967 Removed'Removed' field on FFLOS detail page: "Circa 1967" (about 1967).Source: FFLOS register entry
  8. 1968 RemovedForest Lookouts: 1968, the lookout was removedSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1968 and 2011
  10. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: February 19, 2011Source: 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 Jupiter's lookout was a small wood-frame cab on the summit, in Jefferson County within the Olympic National Forest.1,2 Two listings give 1933 as the year it was built.3,4 Willhite says 1933 or 1934, and the Forest Lookouts page says 1934.2,1

The register gives the design as an L-4 ground cab with a gable roof, while the Forest Lookouts page describes a standard R-6 plan.3,1 Willhite gives the house as 14 feet square and frame-built.2

In July 1956 the Port Angeles Evening News reported that every Quilcene district station except Mount Jupiter had been manned, and that Mount Jupiter was still snowed in.1 A former colleague's account on the Willhite site says a friend staffed the lookout in 1956 and again in 1958.2 That account says Jupiter may have been the most remote of the writer's lookouts at the time. The trail had no water, and the lookout relied on snow lying just below the summit.2

The cab was gone by 1967 or 1968.1,2,3,4 The register says it was intentionally burned around 1967, and a photo caption on that page reads "Intentionally burned in 1967 or 68."3 Firelookout.com lists it as destroyed in 1967.4 Willhite dates the destruction to 1967 or 68, and the Forest Lookouts page dates the removal to 1968.2,1 The sources differ on the year and on how it ended. The register describes a deliberate burn, while the others describe destruction or removal.3,4,2,1

Today, SummitPost says a small remnant of the lookout is still set into the summit rocks.5 From the former site you can see across Puget Sound and the Hood Canal area.2 Reaching the summit by the Jupiter Ridge trail covers about seven miles.2 WTA says getting to the trailhead involves a long road walk through a logging operation.6 SummitPost says a wildlife gate on the access road is locked each year from October 1 to May 1, and it advises checking conditions with the Quilcene Ranger District before you go.5

  1. Mount Jupiter, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/mount-jupiter.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mount Jupiter - Olympic National Forest, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/olympic_mountains/mount_jupiter/hood_canal_213.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mount Jupiter Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/mount-jupiter-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mount Jupiter Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/jupiter.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Mount Jupiter (Jupiter Ridge), SummitPost, https://www.summitpost.org/mount-jupiter-jupiter-ridge/523218 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Mount Jupiter, Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/mount-jupiter (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount Jupiter Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1944
1944 (1944)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mount Jupiter Lookout 1960
Mount Jupiter Lookout 1960 (1960)Photo: Dave Rogers collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mount Jupiter Lookout 1960
Mount Jupiter Lookout 1960 (1960)Photo: Dave Rogers collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Intentionally burned in 1967 or 68
Intentionally burned in 1967 or 68 (1967)Photo: Dave Rodgers, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Mount Jupiter Lookout Site
Photo: Dave Rodgers, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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: what it is built of, design, 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. 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

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