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Fire lookout · Clallam County, Washington

Mount Townsend Lookout Site

Olympic summit lookout cab: built 1933 as an L-4, reported abandoned by 1955 and removed or destroyed in 1962; no source describes what remains today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed or destroyed in 1962; the sources differ on which

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 by hiking trails from Forest Service roads; a hiking guide calls the peak one of the more popular hiking destinations. Current trail and road conditions not confirmed.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Route given as 4 miles one way in a hiking guide; no remains of the lookout are described at the summit

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab (plan: gabled, shingle roof, heavy shutters, no cupola)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,212 ft (1,893 m)
Agency
Olympic National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Clallam County, Washington
Coordinates
47.87289, −123.06240
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-mount-townsend

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 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 BuiltL-4 cab built (FFLOS, firelookout.com and WillhiteWeb all give 1933)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1935 EventPanorama photographs taken August 27, 1935 by W.B. OsborneSource: willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1935 and 1955
  4. 1955 AbandonedA USGS party described the cab as abandoned in 1955Source: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1962 RemovedFFLOS says removed; firelookout.com and WillhiteWeb say destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1962 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 20, 2012 as US 1213, WA 114Source: firetower.org
  8. 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.

A lookout cab went up on the summit of Mount Townsend in 1933.1,2 It was an L-4 cab. HistoryLink describes that plan as gabled and shingled, with thick shutters and no cupola.1,3 WillhiteWeb places it on the summit's lower north end.2

WillhiteWeb says W.B. Osborne took panoramic photographs there on August 27, 1935.2

A USGS field party recorded the cab as abandoned in 1955.2 The sources agree on 1962 but not on how the cab ended: the register says it was removed that year,1 while firelookout.com and WillhiteWeb say it was destroyed.4,2

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains at the summit today. The peak lies in Olympic National Forest.4 WillhiteWeb calls it one of the more popular hiking spots, with several easy trails to the top.2 That guide gives the route as 4 miles one way.2 We did not confirm current trail or road conditions.

  1. Mount Townsend Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/mount-townsend-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mount Townsend - Olympic Mountains Hiking, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/olympic_mountains/mount_townsend/seattle_220.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Fire Lookouts in Washington, HistoryLink.org, https://www.historylink.org/File/23254 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mount Townsend Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/townsend.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Mount Townsend Lookout
Mount Townsend LookoutPhoto: Eric Willhite collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mount Townsend Lookout
Mount Townsend LookoutPhoto: Eric Willhite, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mount Townsend Lookout 1935
Mount Townsend Lookout 1935 (1935)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mount Townsend Lookout panoramic 8-27-35 (N)
Mount Townsend Lookout panoramic 8-27-35 (N)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mount Townsend Lookout panoramic 8-27-35 (SW)
Mount Townsend Lookout panoramic 8-27-35 (SW)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mount Townsend Lookout panoramic 8-27-35 (SE)
Mount Townsend Lookout panoramic 8-27-35 (SE)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

More about this lookout elsewhere

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.