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Fire lookout · Chelan County, Washington

Nelson Butte Lookout Site

Chelan County, WA 20-foot pole L-4 tower built on Nelson Butte in 1934; abandoned 1953 and now gone, per four sources.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned in 1953 and now gone per FFLOS and FireLookout; WillhiteWeb says abandoned or destroyed that year

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Gravel roads to the north ridge, where you pull over and park; the old fire break up the ridge is open but regrowing; hike under half a mile (WillhiteWeb, undated)

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower20-foot pole L-4 towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1934
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
6,207 ft (1,892 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Chelan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.09205, −120.33683
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-nelson-butte

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 4.1 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. 1931 FireLookout on the butte spotted a fire near a slide across the lake; a crew was sent and the fire came under control (Wenatchee Daily World item of September 1931, as quoted by Washington Lookouts)Sources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1931 StaffedA lookout was on Nelson Butte when the fire was spottedSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1933 EventA Chelan camp was working toward Nelson Butte Summit with most of the road to Safety Harbor Creek completed (1933 item quoted by Washington Lookouts)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1934 Built20-foot pole L-4 tower built; WillhiteWeb says a road reached the site by thenSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com, firetower.org
  5. No record between 1934 and 1953
  6. 1953 AbandonedAbandoned in 1953; WillhiteWeb says abandoned or destroyedSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com, firetower.org
  7. No record between 1953 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered October 28, 2012 as US 1417, WA 317Source: firetower.org
  9. 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.

Nelson Butte sits in Chelan County, Washington, about 24 miles northwest of Chelan, inside the Wenatchee National Forest.1,2 The spot began as a lookout camp.3 In September 1931 a Wenatchee Daily World item, quoted by Washington Lookouts, reported that the lookout on the butte had spotted a fire near the slide across the lake.4 Men went out and quickly got the blaze in hand.4

A 1933 item, also quoted there, describes a Chelan camp making its way toward the summit, with most of a road to Safety Harbor Creek already built.4 WillhiteWeb says the tower went up in 1934, by which time a road reached the site.3 The structure was a 20-foot pole L-4 tower, built in 1934.1,2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register lists it as US 1417 and registered it on October 28, 2012.1

The tower was abandoned in 1953 and is now gone.2,1 WillhiteWeb calls the 1953 change "abandoned or destroyed" and does not say which.3

None of the sources describes what, if anything, is still standing on the summit. WillhiteWeb's route notes, which carry no date, describe a climb from the north ridge along an old fire break that is still open but slowly regrowing.3 The page lists gravel roads, a place to pull over and park, and a hike of under half a mile.3 No source says whether the site is open to the public, so check before you go.

  1. Nelson Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/nelson-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Nelson Butte Fire Lookout Tower, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/nelsonbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Nelson Butte Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/nelson_butte_lookout/lake_chelan_107.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Nelson Butte - Forest Lookouts, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/nelson-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Nelson Butte 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, 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, height, status, agency, 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

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