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Fire lookout · Spokane County, Washington

Mount Spokane Lookout (now at Quartz Mountain)

Also known as Quartz Mountain Lookout

A 1979 DNR cab from Mount Spokane was set on a new 10 ft tower on Quartz Mountain in 2004 and is now a summer rental in Mount Spokane State Park.

Original site: Mount Spokane

Visit & stay

You can rent this lookout for overnight stays through Washington State Parks.

Managed by
WA State Parks

Book on Washington State Parks

This rental is listed by the Forest Fire Lookout Association’s rentals list, checked 19 Oct 2026; the association does not run rentals. Rules, fees and seasons change, so confirm on the booking page before you go.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Reservable rental through Washington State Parks: summer only, reservations up to nine months ahead, two-night minimum, sleeps four

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Hike-in or bike-in only; the trail is 2.7 miles from parking at Selkirk Lodge
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower10 ft tower carrying a 14x14 ft wood-frame live-in cab with wrap-around windows and deck; the cab was built in 1979 on a 40 ft tower on Mount Spokane
Built of
Not recorded
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
5,180 ft (1,579 m)
Agency
Washington State Parks, Mount Spokane State Park (cab built by Washington DNR)
Land
State land
Location
Spokane County, Washington
Coordinates
47.88522, −117.08227
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 19 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-mount-spokane-at-quartz-mountain

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 4.1 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 BuiltVista House completed November 1933 on the Mount Spokane summit, with a fire lookout tower added at the Department of Forestry's late request (TrailChick dates the Vista House to 1934)Sources: parks.wa.gov, trailchick.com
  2. No record between 1933 and 1948
  3. 1948 BuiltTrailChick: an 85 ft wood tower on Mount Spokane, which collapsed in its first winterSource: trailchick.com
  4. 1950 BuiltTrailChick: a 45 ft tower built on Mount SpokaneSource: trailchick.com
  5. 1963 Replaced by a new structureTrailChick: the 1950 45 ft tower was replaced in 1963Source: trailchick.com
  6. No record between 1963 and 1979
  7. 1979 BuiltCurrent cab built on the Mount Spokane summit by the Washington DNR, on a 40 ft towerSources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com
  8. No record between 1979 and 1994
  9. 1994 Last staffedTower used for fire spotting until it was permanently decommissioned in 1994Source: nhlr.org
  10. 2001 RemovedJune 2001: tower scrapped; the 9,000 pound cab was lifted by crane, moved by truck to the Mount Spokane ranger's residence and held while permits were processedSources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com, firelookout.com
  11. 2004 MovedLate August 2004: cab set atop a new 10 ft tower on Quartz Mountain (NHLR lists 'Built 1979 - Relocated 2004')Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  12. 2005 Opened as a rentalJoined the rental program; reservable June through September at about $100 a night (NHLR, TrailChick)Sources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com
  13. No record between 2005 and 2022
  14. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 13, 2022 as NHLR US 1558, WA 85Source: nhlr.org
  15. Date unknown MovedMoved from Mount Spokane to Quartz Mountain.Source: FFLA
  16. 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 lookout now on Quartz Mountain began in 1979 on the summit of Mount Spokane, where the Washington Department of Natural Resources built it on a 40-foot tower.1,2 The summit's fire-watch history is older still: the Vista House, finished in November 1933, was built with a fire lookout tower added at the Department of Forestry's late request.3 TrailChick dates the start of the site's lookout history to the Vista House's construction in 1934, so the two accounts differ by a year.2 TrailChick also describes an 85-foot wood tower built in 1948 that collapsed in its first winter, followed by a 45-foot tower built in 1950 and replaced in 1963.2

The 40-foot tower was used for fire spotting until it was permanently decommissioned in 1994.1 A TrailChick write-up says that over 60 years of service, the summit lookout held the record for reported wildfires among Washington's 657 fire lookouts.2

The DNR eventually stopped paying for costly repairs, and the tower was headed for demolition until park staff and an advisory committee pushed for it to go to the park.1 In June 2001 crews scrapped the tower, and the 9,000-pound cab was lifted by crane onto a truck and taken to a ranger's residence to wait out the permits.1,2 In late August 2004 a parks crew made the old road passable for heavy trucks, poured four concrete pillars, and set the cab atop a new 10-foot tower on Quartz Mountain.1,4

The cab has been a rental since 2005, and the NHLR says it can be reserved from June through September for about $100 a night.1 Washington State Parks describes it as summer-only, a 14-by-14-foot cab that sleeps four and requires a two-night minimum stay.5 Visitors hike or bike the 2.7-mile trail in from parking at Selkirk Lodge, since there is no drive-up access.5 Reservations open up to nine months ahead, and TrailChick reports strong demand, with the cab usually booked up.5,2 The state page does not quote a price and refers visitors to its fee schedule, so the $100 figure from the other two sources could not be checked against an official rate.5 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's listing adds that the cab is also available for emergency detection, though none of the sources gathered here describes anyone watching fire from it today.4

  1. Quartz Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/quartz-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Quartz Mountain, TrailChick, https://www.trailchick.com/wa-state-fire-lookouts/quartz-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Mount Spokane State Park History, Washington State Parks, https://parks.wa.gov/about/news-center/field-guide-blog/mount-spokane-state-park-history (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Quartz Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/quartzmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Mount Spokane Quartz Mountain Fire Lookout, Washington State Parks, https://parks.wa.gov/find-parks/state-parks/mount-spokane-state-park/mount-spokane-quartz-mountain-fire-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Quartz Mountain Lookout - April 2018
Quartz Mountain Lookout - April 2018 (2018)Photo: Christine Estrada, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Quartz Mountain Lookout - Newly relocated - 2004
Quartz Mountain Lookout - Newly relocated - 2004 (2004)Photo: Mountspokane.org, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
The lookout at its original Mt. Spokane location
The lookout at its original Mt. Spokane locationPhoto: Rich Landers and the Spokesman-Review, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Quartz Mtn. in 2005
Quartz Mtn. in 2005 (2005)Photo: Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Mount Spokane Lookout (now at Quartz Mountain)
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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1979
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 2001
    • TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts: 1979
    • Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports: 2004

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: 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: name, type, status, register numbers, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. Forest Fire Lookout Association: lookout rentals Gave us: rental details, links Forest Fire Lookout Association rentals list (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only (state, name, booking link, manager, closure note), no prose copied. The FFLA says it is not involved in managing any rental program. · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  4. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: 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
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  7. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: 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
  8. TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts Gave us: photos 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
  9. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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.