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Fire lookout · Pierce County, Washington

Noble Knob Lookout Site

Pierce County, WA L-4 cab on Noble Knob, USFS-administered; built 1932-34 per sources, last used 1954, gone by 1961; 2026 footing caption; hike from gravel roads.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed or destroyed between 1954 and 1961 per conflicting sources; no source describes a standing structure today

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. Hike from gravel road approaches per WillhiteWeb (2 to 10 miles depending on route); the guide mentions no gate or permit

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Hike of 2 to 10 miles depending on route; approach to Corral Pass via road 7174 from Highway 410, or logging roads from the Greenwater side

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,011 ft (1,832 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Pierce County, Washington
Coordinates
47.04602, −121.49237
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-noble-knob

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 EventWillhiteWeb: storage shed ordered in 1933; improvements ordered July 6, 1933Source: willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 BuiltRegister and Fire Lookout site give 1934 for the L-4 cab; WillhiteWeb says likely 1932 or 1933 (see resolved_conflicts)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1934 EventPanoramic photographs taken from the cab roof, August 15, 1934; Forest Lookouts credits George ClisbySources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1934 and 1954
  5. 1954 DestroyedFire Lookout site: destroyed 1954 (disagrees with Register's removed)Source: firelookout.com
  6. 1954 RemovedRegister: cab removed in 1954Source: firetower.org
  7. 1954 Last staffedWillhiteWeb: lookout last used in 1954; no staff namedSource: willhiteweb.com
  8. 1955 AbandonedWillhiteWeb: surveyors found the lookout abandoned in 1955Source: willhiteweb.com
  9. 1961 DestroyedWillhiteWeb: destroyed in 1961Source: willhiteweb.com
  10. No record between 1961 and 2012
  11. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered June 18, 2012 as US 1289, WA 189; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  12. 2026 EventWillhiteWeb photo captions: 'Footing in 2026.' and 'Anchor in 2026.'Source: willhiteweb.com
  13. 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.

The Noble Knob lookout stood in Pierce County, Washington, in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, and the U.S. Forest Service administered it.1,2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites Register registered the site on June 18, 2012.1

The Register says the L-4 cab went up in 1934.1 The Fire Lookout site gives the same year.2 WillhiteWeb disagrees. It says the cab was likely built in 1932 or 1933, and it dates an order for a storage shed to 1933.3 Forest Lookouts records panoramic photographs taken on August 15, 1934, by George Clisby.4 WillhiteWeb also says panoramic images were taken from the roof that year.3

The Register says the cab was removed in 1954.1 The Fire Lookout site says it was destroyed in 1954.2 WillhiteWeb says the lookout was last used in 1954, that surveyors found it abandoned in 1955, and that it was destroyed in 1961.3 These sources do not agree on what happened or when, and we did not find one that settles it.

WillhiteWeb's photo captions include a footing and an anchor, both labeled 2026.3 We found no source that describes a standing structure today. The guide describes a hike of 2 to 10 miles from gravel roads, depending on the route.3 It directs drivers 30.5 miles along Highway 410 from Enumclaw, then onto road 7174 to Corral Pass.3 The guide mentions no gate or permit.3

  1. Noble Knob Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/noble-knob-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Noble Knob Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/nobleknob.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Noble Knob Fire Lookout, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/hiking/corral_pass/noble_knob/lookout_445.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Noble Knob, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/noble-knob.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Noble Knob Lookout
Noble Knob LookoutPhoto: Eric Willhite collection - R.N. McCullough photo, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Noble Knob Lookout panoramic 8-15-1934 (SE)
Noble Knob Lookout panoramic 8-15-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Noble Knob Lookout panoramic 8-15-1934 (SW)
Noble Knob Lookout panoramic 8-15-1934 (SW) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Noble Knob Lookout panoramic 8-15-1934 (N)
Noble Knob Lookout panoramic 8-15-1934 (N) (1934)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.