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Fire lookout · Kittitas County, Washington

North Ridge Lookout Site

Kittitas County, WA: a 40-ft pole lookout built in 1932 and taken down in 1955. Footings remain on the ridge, reached by a hike past a forest-road gate.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower taken down in 1955; the footings on the ridge are the only remains described

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. Reached on foot past a forest-road gate; a 2017 trip report describes no closure, but no source confirms current rules

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Drive Forest Road 4510 to a gate, then hike the road 0.7 miles and a trail about 3 miles to the high point

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower40-foot pole tower with L-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1932
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,922 ft (1,805 m)
Agency
Wenatchee National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Kittitas County, Washington
Coordinates
47.13659, −121.16223
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-north-ridge

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 4.3 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. 1932 Built40-foot pole tower with L-4 cabSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1933 StaffedOne site lists A. Bernardi as known lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  3. No record between 1933 and 1955
  4. 1955 RemovedTaken down; the register says removed, two sites say demolishedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1955 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered August 11, 2012 as US 1368, WA 268Source: 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.

North Ridge Lookout stood on a ridge in Kittitas County, Washington, at 5,922 feet (1,805 meters).1,2 A lookout-history site places it in the Wenatchee National Forest.2

The tower went up in 1932.1,2,3 The pole tower was 40 feet high and carried an L-4 cab at the top.1,2,3 One lookout-history site lists A. Bernardi as known lookout personnel for 1933.2

The tower was taken down in 1955.1,2,3 The Former Fire Lookout Sites Register recorded the place on August 11, 2012.1

The tower is gone, but footings remain.1,3 The WillhiteWeb trip report says the path runs close beside them at the ridge's highest spot.3 The route runs up Forest Road 4510 to a gate, then walks 0.7 miles on the road beyond it and follows a trail for about 3 miles.3 Photos from that visit are labeled 2017.3 No source we read says the route is closed, and none confirms the current rules for visiting.

  1. North Ridge Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/north-ridge-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. North Ridge Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/northridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. North Ridge Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb, http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/north_ridge/lookout_218.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of North Ridge Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
North Ridge Lookout (Andy Tomchic in photo) 7-19-1937
North Ridge Lookout (Andy Tomchic in photo) 7-19-1937 (1937)Photo: Eric Willhite collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
North Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-15-1934 (N)
North Ridge 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
North Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-15-1934 (SE)
North Ridge 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
North Ridge Lookout panoramic 8-15-1934 (SW)
North Ridge 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

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.