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Fire lookout · Pierce County, Washington

O'Farrell (South Prairie) Lookout Site

Pierce County, WA: a lookout built in 1934 as O'Farrell or South Prairie, abandoned by the state in 1959 and burned in 1960. Footings remain, reached through a gate.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower abandoned in 1959 and burned; the only remains described are foundation footings, found in 2015

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. The route crosses a gate on a Wilkeson tree-farm road; park below the gate. No source describes the visiting rules.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Drive to Wilkeson, then FS 7710 for 4.3 miles to a Y, then 0.2 miles to a gate; park below it. Hike listed at 4.5 miles with 1,300 ft of climbing from the gate, plus off-trail searching for footings

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerPole L-4 tower; sources give 20 feet (two) or 15 feet (one)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,236 ft (986 m)
Agency
Washington Division of Forestry/DNR
Land
Unknown
Location
Pierce County, Washington
Coordinates
47.06462, −121.94496
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-ofarrell-south-prairie

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 4.2 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. 1934 BuiltPole L-4 tower built in 1934Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1942 EventActivated August 31, 1942; deactivated October 16, 1943 (Seattle Filter Center)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1942 and 1958
  4. 1958 StaffedOne site lists Jane Stanton; WillhiteWeb lists her 1958 season under the Carbon Ridge headingSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1959 AbandonedDNR letter dated July 3, 1959 abandons the lookout because of poor conditionSource: willhiteweb.com
  6. 1960 BurnedA 1960 entry says the Forest Service burned the tower; a November 1959 photo caption says just before being burnedSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1960 Replaced by a new structureLookout duties moved to Carbon Ridge Lookout; WillhiteWeb says 1961Sources: firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  8. No record between 1960 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered June 18, 2012 as US 1291, WA 191Source: 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.

O'Farrell Lookout, also called South Prairie, stood in Pierce County, Washington, at 3,236 feet (986 meters).1,2 One site says it was likely named for Thomas E. O'Farrell, a former chief park ranger at Mount Rainier National Park.3

The tower was built in 1934.1,2,3 Two sources give its height as 20 feet,1,3 and one gives 15 feet.2 Records list it as active from August 31, 1942, to October 16, 1943, under the Seattle Filter Center.4

Staffing records are unclear. One site lists Jane Stanton as the lookout here in 1958.2 Another page lists her 1958 season, and Helen Jones's 1959 season, under its heading for Carbon Ridge.3

In July 1959 the state Department of Natural Resources abandoned the lookout, citing its poor shape. A letter says a forest engineer judged the building not worth fixing.3 A photo caption dated November 1959 calls the tower "just before being burned,"3 and a 1960 entry on another site says the Forest Service burned it.4 A November 1960 letter from the DNR to the Forest Service describes a break-in in which a state radio was stolen.3

Two sites say the Carbon Ridge Lookout took over the duties in 1960.2,4 WillhiteWeb places that lookout further up the ridge and says it replaced the tower in 1961.3

The most recent visit we found, in 2015, turned up three of four foundation footings. Two sat firmly in the ground, while a third lay sideways roughly 200 feet away, down the ridge.3

To get there, take FS 7710 from Wilkeson for 4.3 miles to a Y, then 0.2 miles to a gate, and park below it.3 The hike is listed at 4.5 miles, with 1,300 feet of climbing from the gate, and includes some off-trail searching for the footings.3 The route crosses a gate on a tree-farm road. No source we read describes the rules for visiting.3

  1. O'Farrell (South Prairie) Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/ofarrell-south-prairie-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. O'Farrell (South Prairie) Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/ofarrell.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. O'Farrell (South Prairie) Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington/fire_lookouts/south_prairie_lookout/ofarrell_site_280.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. O'Farrell (South Prairie), Forest Lookouts Washington, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/ofarrell-south-prairie.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

O'Farrell Lookout 1938
O'Farrell Lookout 1938 (1938)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
O'Farrell Lookout 1942
O'Farrell Lookout 1942 (1942)Photo: Tod Files collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
O'Farrell Lookout 1942
O'Farrell Lookout 1942 (1942)Photo: Tod Files collection, 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, 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

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