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Fire lookout · Pend Oreille County, Washington

North Baldy Lookout Site (now at Big Meadow Lake)

Also known as Big Meadow Lake

Only the top 30 feet of North Baldy's 41-ft R-6 tower moved to Big Meadow Lake in 1989 as a wildlife observation tower; the rest was torn down.

Original site: North Baldy Lookout Site

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. Scenic Washington describes the lake as a visitor site with a boat launch, fishing pier and overnight camping. WillhiteWeb found the tower's access closed during one visit because of vandalism; the date is not given.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerTop 30 ft of the 41-ft treated timber R-6 flat-roof tower built on North Baldy in 1964The design: R-6
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1928
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
Unknown
Land
Unknown
Location
Pend Oreille County, Washington
Coordinates
48.72910, −117.56684
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-north-baldy-lookout-site-at-big-meadow-lake

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

Downloads about 4.2 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. 1928 BuiltRegister: cupola cabin built on North Baldy in 1928. firelookout.com gives 1925.Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1938 Built40-foot pole L-4 cab built on North Baldy.Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. No record between 1938 and 1957
  4. 1957 EventU.S. Air Force acquired about 56.5 acres for an unmanned Gap Filler radar site.Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1962 EventSite declared excess in 1961 and returned to the Forest Service in 1962.Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1964 Built41-foot treated timber tower with an R-6 flat-roof cab constructed on North Baldy.Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1967 StaffedKnown lookout personnel: Susan Wright.Source: firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1967 and 1989
  9. 1989 MovedTop 30 feet of the superstructure moved to Big Meadow Lake, west of Ione, to become a wildlife observation tower.Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  10. 1989 RemovedTower torn down on North Baldy.Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  11. Date unknown MovedMoved from North Baldy to Big Meadow Lake.Source: FFLA
  12. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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.

North Baldy is a mountain in Pend Oreille County, about 25 miles north of Newport, in the Kaniksu and Colville National Forests.1,2 In 1909 a camp went in about a quarter mile south of the summit, and a log cabin followed in 1918.1 The register dates the first cupola cabin to 1928, while firelookout.com dates it to 1925, so the early date is not settled.1,2 A 40-foot pole L-4 cab followed in 1938.1,2

Following World War II, the Air Force turned the summit into a radar site.1 In 1957 the Air Force acquired 56 and a half acres for an unmanned Gap Filler radar site, which got a concrete block building and a steel radar tower.3 In 1964 the summit gained a 41-foot tower of treated timber, topped by an R-6 flat-roof cab.3 The only named lookout I found is Susan Wright, listed for 1967.2

The site was declared surplus in 1961, and the property went back to the Forest Service the next year (1962).3 The tower was abandoned in the 1970s and torn down in 1989.1 Its top 30 feet went to Big Meadow Lake, west of Ione, to become a wildlife viewing tower.1,3

Big Meadow Lake is a shallow lake with a primitive boat launch, a fishing pier and overnight camping.4 The observation tower offers a raised view of the wildlife that lives around the lake.4 WillhiteWeb says the platform was once the North Baldy tower. It also reports that access was closed during one visit because of vandalism, a date it does not give.5

Vehicles of every sort can reach the lake from Colville or Ione.5 The sources do not say whether the R-6 cab went down with the tower or stayed on the mountain, so treat the platform as a viewing spot and respect any closure.1,3

  1. North Baldy Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/north-baldy-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. North Baldy Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/northbaldy.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. North Baldy Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/north-baldy-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Big Meadow Lake Wildlife Observatory, Scenic Washington State, https://www.scenicwa.com/poi/big-meadow-lake-wildlife-observatory (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Big Meadow Lake Campground Trails, WillhiteWeb.com, https://willhiteweb.com/hiking/colville/big_meadow_lake/trails_202.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, 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.