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Fire lookout · Whatcom County, Washington

Nooksack Lookout Site

Also known as Nooksack/Bowman Mountain

Whatcom County, WA 80' L-6 pole tower built 1949, trimmed to 50' with a 9x9 cab in 1957; staffed 1955-56 per WillhiteWeb; removed or destroyed about 1968; gated, permit-only access.

Permission required

You need permission from the tribe or landowner before visiting. Summit privately owned; DNR owns parcels near the summit; the gate has permit signs and security patrol signs; WillhiteWeb says a permit can be obtained

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower and ground cabin removed or destroyed about 1968 per sources; the guide's undated photo captions show a footing

Visit & stay

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

Access

Permission required. See the warning at the top of this page.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Paved road from Acme on Mosquito Lake Road about 4 miles to a gate, then a hike of 6.4 miles one way with about 2,600 feet of gain

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower80-foot pole tower with L-6 cab (1949); trimmed to 50 feet with a 9x9 foot cab in 1957; separate ground cabinThe design: L-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1949
Height
50 ft (15.2 m)
Elevation
3,350 ft (1,021 m)
Agency
Washington Division of Forestry/DNR
Land
Unknown
Location
Whatcom County, Washington
Coordinates
48.75586, −122.07362
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-nooksack

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 4.3 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. 1949 Built80-foot pole L-6 tower built (Register, firelookout, WillhiteWeb)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1955 First staffedWillhiteWeb: Lorna Anderson, a local and UW student, was the lookout in 1955Source: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1956 Last staffedWillhiteWeb: same lookout in 1956Source: willhiteweb.com
  4. 1957 AlteredTrimmed to 50 feet and fitted with a 9x9 foot cab (DNR carpentry crew per WillhiteWeb)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1957 EventState biennial report, quoted on Forest Lookouts: a lookout was completed on Nooksack during the 1956-58 bienniumSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1968 DestroyedFire Lookout site and WillhiteWeb: tower and ground cabin destroyed about 1968Sources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1968 RemovedRegister: tower and ground cabin removed about 1968Source: firetower.org
  8. No record between 1968 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered April 23, 2012 as US 1252, WA 152; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  10. 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 Nooksack lookout stood in Whatcom County, Washington, and the Washington Division of Forestry and DNR administered it.1,2 WillhiteWeb notes that the site was sometimes called Bowman Mountain Lookout, after the mountain.3

The Register dates the tower to 1949 and describes it as an 80-foot pole tower with an L-6 cab.1 WillhiteWeb says a separate sleeping quarters stood below it.3 The guide names Lorna Anderson, a local and UW student, as the lookout in 1955 and 1956.3 A state report quoted on the Forest Lookouts site says a lookout was completed on Nooksack during the 1956 to 1958 biennium.4

In 1957 the tower was trimmed to 50 feet and fitted with a 9-by-9-foot cab.1,2,3

The Register says the tower and its ground cabin were removed about 1968.1 The Fire Lookout site and WillhiteWeb say they were destroyed around that time.2,3 The wording differs, but the three sources that give a year agree on about 1968.

WillhiteWeb's photo captions include a tower footing and one footing tossed down the hillside. The footing captions carry no dates.3 A private timber company owns the summit, and DNR owns several parcels near it.3 From Acme, Mosquito Lake Road runs about 4 miles east to a gate, which is posted with permit and security patrol signs.3 The guide says you can get a permit.3 Please do not pass that gate without permission. The guide gives the hike as 6.4 miles one way, with about 2,600 feet of gain.3 Elevations differ by source: the Register and the Fire Lookout site say 3,350 feet, while WillhiteWeb gives 3,356 feet on USGS and 3,361 feet on lidar.1,2,3

  1. Nooksack Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/nooksack-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Nooksack Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/nooksack.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Nooksack Lookout Site (Bowman Lookout), WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/nooksack_lookout/bowman_mountain_073.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Nooksack, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/nooksack.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Nooksack 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, 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, 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.