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Fire lookout · Snohomish County, Washington

Mount Pugh Lookout Site

Gone D-6 cupola cabin on Mount Pugh, Snohomish County: built 1919, lightning rebuild 1922 or 1927, removed or destroyed 1965; no source describes what remains.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cabin permanently removed in 1965 per FFLOS; Firelookout.com and Willhite say destroyed permanently that year; no source describes what remains

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. National forest hike; Willhite gives 5 miles one way and 5,300 feet of gain from a good gravel access road; no closure or permit found

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Five miles one way with 5,300 feet of gain (Willhite); a June 1963 newspaper said the trail was cleared to timberline; no recent trail report found

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabD-6 cupola cabinThe design: D-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1919
Height
14 ft (4.3 m)
Elevation
7,201 ft (2,195 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Snohomish County, Washington
Coordinates
48.14314, −121.37446
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-mount-pugh

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 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. 1916 EventSite developed with a rock platform, tent camp and alidadeSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1919 BuiltD-6 cupola cabin builtSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1922 DestroyedCupola destroyed by lightning, per WillhiteSource: willhiteweb.com
  4. 1922 RebuiltNew lookout structure built the same year to replace the first, per WillhiteSource: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1927 EventFlight dropped the morning newspaper in front of the lookout on August 22Source: willhiteweb.com
  6. 1927 RebuiltDestroyed by lightning and rebuilt in 1927, per FFLOS and Firelookout.comSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. 1938 FireMidnight lightning storm; bolt struck the tower; lookout reported fires to the Ranger StationSource: willhiteweb.com
  8. 1950 Condition assessmentUSGS description: standard 14-foot square building with a cupola, painted white; station on the highest pointSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  9. 1963 EventArlington Times, June 27, 1963: trail cleaned to timberline; travelers can reach the lookout with careSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1965 RemovedCabin permanently removed (FFLOS); destroyed permanently (Firelookout.com, Willhite)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  11. No record between 1965 and 2012
  12. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered April 24, 2012Source: firetower.org
  13. 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 Pugh rises in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, in Snohomish County, Washington, about 13 miles southeast of Darrington.1,2 A 1950 survey description puts it about 16 miles southeast of Darrington in a straight line.3

In 1916 the summit was first set up with a tent camp, a rock platform and an alidade, a sighting tool.1,4 A D-6 cupola cabin followed in 1919.1,2,4 Willhite says the peak was known early on for lightning strikes, and that lightning destroyed the cupola in 1922, when a new structure went up the same year.4 The register and Firelookout.com instead say lightning destroyed the cabin and that it was rebuilt in 1927.1,2

Supplies went up a hand-powered tramway in two legs, one 1,950 feet long and the other 2,700 feet.4

Willhite describes the first lookout, Nels Bruseth, who would hurry down the trail once the sun set, hike eight miles to Darrington, and race back before sunrise.4 In August 1927, a flight over the forest dropped the morning newspaper outside the lookout's door.4 A 1938 account describes a midnight lightning storm in which the bolt struck the tower and another strike hit the flag pole, and the lookout reported fires to the Ranger Station.4

According to the register, the cabin was removed for good in 1965.1 Firelookout.com and Willhite both say it was destroyed permanently that year, so the sources differ on whether it was removed or destroyed.2,4 A 1950 USGS description called the building 14 feet square, with a cupola and white paint.4 The 14-foot figure is a square size; none of the sources gives the cabin's height.4

The 1950 survey description places a station on the highest point of the peak, but no source says whether that marker survives.3 No source describes what, if anything, remains of the cabin.3,4

Willhite gives the hike as five miles one way with 5,300 feet of gain, and lists the access road as good gravel.4 A June 1963 newspaper said the trail was cleared to timberline, with some snow above, and that travelers could reach the lookout with care.3 No recent trail report turned up, so check with the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest before you go.

  1. Mount Pugh Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/mount-pugh-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mt. Pugh Fire Lookout Cabin, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/mtpugh.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mount Pugh, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/mount-pugh.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mount Pugh Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/mount_pugh/darrington_052.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount Pugh Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1918
1918 (1918)Photo: 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, 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.