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Fire lookout · Jefferson County, Washington

Mount Walker Lookout Site

Mount Walker lookout (1931-1967) in Olympic NF; WWII Aircraft Warning Service station; site is now a Forest Service viewpoint reached by road in summer.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed or destroyed in 1967 (sources differ on the wording); the summit is now a Forest Service viewpoint

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 viewpoint site with north and south viewpoints, parking and vault toilets; road gated in winter

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Drive up the gravel road in summer; in winter park at the gate and walk the road or the trail, about 2 miles to the first viewpoint and half a mile further to the south viewpoint

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabGable-roofed L-4 cab on a ground house; the Forest Lookouts page calls the ground house a standard R-6 plan, 14 by 14 feet, wood frameThe designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
2,804 ft (855 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Olympic National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Jefferson County, Washington
Coordinates
47.78731, −122.90175
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-mount-walker

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 4.3 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. 1931 BuiltGable-roofed L-4 cab on a ground house; Forest Lookouts calls the ground house a standard R-6 plan, 14x14 wood frameSources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1935 EventPanorama photographs takenSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1937 AlteredCCC built railing and seats at the lookoutSource: willhiteweb.com
  4. 1939 AlteredPlan 536 one-car garage constructedSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1942 StaffedAircraft Warning Service station; Seattle Filter Center activated it March 16, 1942; AWS added a 12-by-18 garageSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. 1956 Last staffedMay 18, 1956 news item says the lookout was being manned; last staffing the sources describeSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1967 RemovedCab removed (Sites record) or destroyed (firelookout.com, Willhite)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  8. No record between 1967 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 25, 2012Source: firetower.org
  10. 2020 EventPhone insulator still on the ridge between the two viewpoints, per WillhiteSource: willhiteweb.com
  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 Walker, about three miles south-southwest of Quilcene in Jefferson County, Washington, carried a fire lookout from 1931 until 1967.1,2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites record describes a gable-roofed L-4 cab, and the Forest Lookouts page calls the ground house a standard R-6 plan, 14 by 14 feet of wood frame, built on the Quilcene Ranger District.1,3

Panorama photographs were taken in 1935, and a one-car garage was constructed in 1939.3 The Civilian Conservation Corps put railings and seats at the lookout by 1937, and it also built the road to the viewpoint.4

In 1942 the site became an Aircraft Warning Service station. The Seattle Filter Center activated it on March 16, and the AWS added a 12-by-18 garage.3,4 When that service ended, the Forest Service kept the site.3 A May 1956 news item said the lookout was being manned, and that station crews were on standby with tanker trucks for fires.3

The Former Fire Lookout Sites record says the cab was removed in 1967. Firelookout.com and Willhite's page say it was destroyed that year.1,2,4

Today the summit is a Forest Service viewpoint site with two viewpoints, north and south. Both have brief paths to the viewing area, and the Forest Service lists parking areas and vault toilets.5

In summer you can drive up.4 In winter the road is gated, so you park at the gate and walk the road or the trail, about two miles to the first viewpoint.4 Willhite reports a phone insulator still on the ridge between the two viewpoints in 2020.4

  1. Mount Walker Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/mount-walker-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mt. Walker Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/mtwalker.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mount Walker, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/mount-walker.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mount Walker Viewpoint - Trail - Map, Willhite Web, http://willhiteweb.com/olympic_mountains/mount_walker/trail_map_243.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Mt. Walker Viewpoint, Olympic National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/olympic/recreation/mt-walker-viewpoint (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount Walker Lookout Site
Photo: 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, 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, 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. 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.