FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Pierce County, Washington

Norse Peak Lookout Site

Pierce County summit lookout: L-4 cab dated 1931 and removed in 1956 (one source says destroyed); few signs remain, reached on foot through Norse Peak Wilderness.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed in 1956 (one source says destroyed); WillhiteWeb says few signs exist at the site 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. Former lookout site on Forest Service land, reached on foot within Norse Peak Wilderness

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
About 4 miles up Norse Peak Trail 1191 to the Norse Peak View Trail junction, then about half a mile to the summit; start from the Halfcamp trailhead via Crystal Mountain Road and FS road 7190410

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
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,860 ft (2,091 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Pierce County, Washington
Coordinates
46.95678, −121.45289
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-norse-peak

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 4.0 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. 1929 Event1929 panoramic photographs show a phone line at the site, about three years before the cab was builtSource: willhiteweb.com
  2. 1931 BuiltL-4 cab, per the FFLOS register and WillhiteWeb; the Forest Service gives only 'the 1930s'Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, fs.usda.gov
  3. 1944 StaffedNewspaper story dated February 25, 1944 about two women, Dora Hunt and Maxine Ilipkoe, assigned to the lookout; the summer described is not dated in the sourcesSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1956 RemovedRemoved per FFLOS and the Forest Service; firelookout.com says destroyed; WillhiteWeb says removed or destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1956 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered June 18, 2012 as US 1290, WA 190Source: firetower.org
  7. 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.

Norse Peak rises about 16 miles east-northeast of Mount Rainier, at 6,860 feet, in Pierce County.1,2 Its lookout was an L-4 cab, and the Former Fire Lookout Sites register dates it to 1931.1 WillhiteWeb gives the same year,3 while the Forest Service says only that the lookout went up in the 1930s.4 Panoramic photographs from 1929 already show a telephone line at the site, three years before the cab was built.3

In 1944 several newspapers across the country ran a story about two young women, Dora Hunt and Maxine Ilipkoe, who had been assigned to the lookout.3,5 Before they could start work, the two had to train in map reading, weather reporting, fire-finding gear and basic fire-fighting.3 The newspaper story, dated February 25, 1944, describes a summer at the lookout, but the sources we read do not say which year that summer was.5 WillhiteWeb also reports that on July 11 a blizzard with ice hit the lookout.3

The register and the Forest Service both say the cab was removed in 1956.1,4 Firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year.2 WillhiteWeb is less certain and says it was either removed or destroyed.3

Today, WillhiteWeb reports that few signs of the lookout are left at the site, and it has summit photographs from a 2026 visit.3 We found no source that describes the footings or any other remains in detail.

The cab is gone, so there is no tower to climb.1 The summit is reached on foot. The Norse Peak View Trail is a spur off Norse Peak Trail 1191 that leads to the summit and the former lookout site, about four miles from the trailhead to the spur junction and then half a mile more to the top.4 The spur enters Norse Peak Wilderness about 0.3 miles along, and wilderness rules apply inside it.4 Drivers from Enumclaw take State Highway 410 and Crystal Mountain Road, then walk 500 feet up Forest Service road 7190410 to the Halfcamp trailhead.4

  1. Norse Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/norse-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Norse Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/norsepeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Norse Peak Lookout - Historic Information, Maps, Pictures, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/norse_peak_cab/images_400.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Norse Peak View Trail 1191.1, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mbs/recreation/trails/norse-peak-view-trail-11911 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Norse Peak - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (Washington), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/norse-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Norse Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (NW)
Norse Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (NW) (1929)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Norse Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (NE)
Norse Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (NE) (1929)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Norse Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (S)
Norse Peak Lookout panoramic 1929 (S) (1929)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.