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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Muckamuck Mountain Lookout Site

Okanogan NF summit in Okanogan County, WA: a D-6 cupola cabin of 1922, destroyed or removed in 1974; gone, with only wire and nails left in 2020.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Destroyed in 1974 per FireLookout.com and Willhite; the register says removed that year. A snow pole stood in 2001, and Willhite found nothing much left but wire and nails in 2020.

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. Willhite drove Forest Service roads and hiked to the summit in May 2020; none of the sources read mention a closure or permit.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Drive Forest Service Road 3825 for 6 miles to the unsigned trail start, then hike 1.6 miles one way with 1,200 feet of gain (Willhite).

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
1922
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,370 ft (1,942 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.61100, −119.85667
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-muckamuck-mountain

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 4.1 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. 1922 BuiltD-6 cupola cabin built in 1922; a 1922 entry quoted by Forest Lookouts says a standard house was built that OctoberSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1923 StaffedFireLookout.com lists Bert Julian as known lookout personnel for 1923; this conflicts with the 1924 dateSource: firelookout.com
  3. 1924 StaffedBert Julian was the lookout, per Willhite and an October 1924 item quoted by Forest Lookouts (radio reception)Sources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1929 StaffedFireLookout.com lists Bert Julian for 1929Source: firelookout.com
  5. 1930 EventPanoramic images taken from the cupola second-story windowsSource: willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1930 and 1959
  7. 1959 StaffedFireLookout.com lists Robert McIntosh as known lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1959 and 1974
  9. 1974 DestroyedCab destroyed after 52 years per Willhite and FireLookout.com; the register says removed in 1974Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  10. No record between 1974 and 2001
  11. 2001 EventA pole for measuring snow still stood on the site as of September 12, 2001Source: firetower.org
  12. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered in the Former Fire Lookout Sites register as US 683, WA 17Source: firetower.org
  13. 2020 EventWillhite visited in May 2020: nothing much left but wire and nailsSource: willhiteweb.com
  14. 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.

Muckamuck Mountain sits in the Okanogan National Forest, in Okanogan County, Washington.1,2 The register lists the summit at 6,370 feet.1

The lookout was a D-6 cupola cabin built in 1922.1,2,3 A 1922 entry, quoted on the Forest Lookouts site, says a standard house was built on the mountain that October.4

Bert Julian was the lookout in 1924, according to Willhite.3 A 1924 item quoted by Forest Lookouts says Julian picked up wireless messages on his radio set, with a reach from Annapolis to Cavite, P.I.4 FireLookout.com lists Julian for 1923 and 1929, and Robert McIntosh for 1959.2 Those 1923 and 1929 dates do not match the 1924 date in Willhite and the 1924 item.2,3,4 Willhite also says panoramic images were taken from the cupola in 1930.3

The cab was destroyed in 1974 after 52 years, according to Willhite and FireLookout.com.3,2 The register says it was removed that year, and it notes that a snow-measuring pole still stood on the site in September 2001.1

Willhite visited in May 2020 and found little left but wire and nails.3 He reports that much of the timber has regrown, views are still available by moving around the summit area, and cattle wander the mountain along informal tracks.3

His route went up Forest Service Road 3825 for 6 miles to a trail that is not signed, then 1.6 miles one way to the summit, with about 1,200 feet of gain.3 The sources read mention no closure or permit for that route.

  1. Muckamuck Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/muckamuck-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Muckamuck Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/muckamuck.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Muckamuck Mountain Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/muckamuck_mountain/lookout_097.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Muckamuck Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/muckamuck-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Muckamuck Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
September 2001
September 2001 (2001)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Muckamuck Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Muckamuck Mountain Lookout
Muckamuck Mountain LookoutPhoto: USFS photo - Jack Kelley collection, 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, 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, staffing, 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.