FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Clallam County, Washington

North Point Lookout

Olympic National Forest L-4 cab built 1939, abandoned as a lookout in 1969, later used for radio; reached by a forest road and a walk past a closed gate.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Reached by a forest road and then a walk past a closed gate. The building is used for radio communication, and no source describes public entry.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Drive Forest Road 3041 to the Kloshe Nanich former lookout site, then walk about half a mile up the road past a closed gate. TrailChick advises high clearance.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1939
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,348 ft (1,021 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Olympic National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Clallam County, Washington
Coordinates
48.08448, −124.07238
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-north-point

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 4.3 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. 1939 BuiltL-4 cab built in 1939; the register, TrailChick and firelookout.com agree.Sources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1939 and 1954
  3. 1954 EventA federal survey record names a North Point Lookout House with a 1954 designation, which suggests the building was standing by then.Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1956 StaffedManned on an emergency basis, per a May 1956 Port Angeles newspaper item.Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1965 StaffedBryon Loucks observed and reported fires from the lookout.Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1969 AbandonedAbandoned as a lookout.Sources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com, firelookout.com
  7. 1969 EventAfter abandonment the cab was converted to radio or communication use; the sources do not give a date for the change.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1969 and 2022
  9. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on April 13, 2022.Source: nhlr.org
  10. 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

North Point sits on a ridge in Olympic National Forest, north of the Snider Ranger Station and about seven miles west of Lake Crescent in Clallam County.1,2,3 The cab is an L-4 design, and it was built in 1939, according to the register, TrailChick and firelookout.com.4,1,2

A federal survey record from 1954 names a "North Point Lookout House," which suggests the building was already there by then.3

The register says the cab was used for several years, then only sporadically in the 1950s, before it was abandoned in 1969.4,1 A few newspaper items from that stretch survive. In May 1956 a Port Angeles paper reported that the lookout was staffed on an emergency basis, and that old snowdrifts still blocked the access road in the woods.3 In December 1959 a speaker said the Forest Service planned to develop the site, which was reachable by a forest road.3 In 1965 Bryon Loucks observed and reported fires from the lookout.3

The register suggests North Point may first have been a patrol point for Kloshe Nanich, a former lookout only half a mile away, and that its higher site likely replaced that older one. The register words this as a belief, not a fact.4,1

The cab stopped serving as a lookout in 1969.4,1,2 Later it was converted to radio use. The register calls the result a communication tower, and firelookout.com calls it a radio communication building.4,2 Both the register and TrailChick still treat the building as standing where it was first put up.4,1

The register lists the lookout as registered on April 13, 2022.4 The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists it as standing.5 To reach the site, drive Forest Road 3041 to the Kloshe Nanich parking area, then walk about half a mile, passing a closed gate along the way.1 TrailChick warns that the road is steep and narrow in places and says high clearance is likely recommended.1 None of the sources read for this story describes public entry into the building, which is used for radio communication.4,2 Treat it as a working site rather than a place to climb.

  1. North Point, TrailChick, https://www.trailchick.com/wa-state-fire-lookouts/north-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. North Point Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/northpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. North Point, Forest Lookouts of Washington, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/north-point.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. North Point Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/north-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Washington Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wa/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

North Point Lookout - 2018
North Point Lookout - 2018 (2018)Photo: Christine Estrada, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
North Point L.O.
North Point L.OPhoto: Tammy McLeod, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of North Point Lookout
Photo: TrailChick Washington lookout guide (trailchick.com) · 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. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: photos, 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) 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. TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts Gave us: what it is built of, design, photos TrailChick (trailchick.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, coordinates, elevation, lookout type, years built). The guide's text is not reproduced; its card photos are listed with credit to TrailChick, for the project's photo mirroring. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.