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Fire lookout · Stevens County, Washington

Old Dominion Mountain Lookout Site

Also known as Old Dominion

Colville NF lookout: 15-foot pole tower built 1938, replaced 1963 by a 20-foot tower, sold 1983 (cab went to a farmer's house); summit is now a drive-up spot.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower and cab are gone; after the 1983 sale the cab went onto a farmer's house.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Drive-up summit with a parking area and a short trail to the top (Willhite)

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower15-foot pole tower with L-4 cab (1938), replaced in 1963 by a 20-foot treated timber tower with R-6 flat cabThe designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1938
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
5,773 ft (1,760 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Colville National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Stevens County, Washington
Coordinates
48.58025, −117.74776
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-old-dominion-mountain

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 its recorded height.

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. 1938 Built15-foot pole tower with L-4 cabSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1938 StaffedRay Scott is the first name on a list of known lookoutsSource: firelookout.com
  3. 1941 StaffedBob Wimmer was the lookout; he retired from the Forest Service that seasonSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1947 StaffedJames Linne was manning the lookout in JulySource: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1958 StaffedLast name on the list of known lookouts (Don Knauss)Source: firelookout.com
  6. 1963 Replaced by a new structure20-foot treated timber tower with R-6 flat cab replaced the first towerSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1963 and 1983
  8. 1983 RemovedSold to a local farmer; tower legs used for a water tank, cab added to his houseSources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1983 and 2012
  10. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: December 17, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  11. 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.

Old Dominion Mountain sits in Stevens County, about 7 miles east-northeast of Colville, in the Colville National Forest.1,2 In July 1937 the Colville Examiner, as quoted by WillhiteWeb, reported that a 20-foot tower was planned, topped by a 14-by-14-foot structure.3 The register and WillhiteWeb both record the first tower actually built in 1938 as a 15-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab, so the plan and the build differed.1,3

A list of known lookouts runs from 1938 to 1958 and starts with Ray Scott.2 In 1941 Bob Wimmer was the lookout, and he retired from the Forest Service that season.3,4 In July 1947 a Colville Examiner item says James Linne was manning the lookout, with two inches of fresh snow on the ground that morning.3

In 1963 a 20-foot treated timber tower with an R-6 flat cab replaced the first one.1,3 The tower suffered from vandals, worst after it was abandoned in the late 1970s.1 In 1983 the tower was sold to a local farmer, who propped a water tank on its legs and attached the cab to his house.1 A second listing says the lookout was sold and removed that year.4

Nothing in these sources places a tower or cab on the summit today.1,2,3,4 WillhiteWeb lists the top as a drive-up spot with a parking area, a short trail to the top, and a summit benchmark at 5,773 feet.3

Willhite's directions start at the east end of Colville, on Hwy 20.3 They take the Colville-Aladdin road north to a right turn on Northport Road, follow it to Threeforks, and turn right onto the S Fork Mill Creek Road. In a few miles, look for a wide Forest Road on the south side.3 An older survey description gives a different approach, from the Old Dominion Mine Road, so check a current map before you go.4 The summit is on Colville National Forest land, and no source describes a closure or a permit requirement.1,2,3,4

  1. Old Dominion Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/old-dominion-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Old Dominion Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/olddominion.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Old Dominion Mountain Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/old_dominion_mountain/colville_049.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Old Dominion - Forest Lookouts, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/old-dominion.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Old Dominion Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1938
1938 (1938)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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: height, 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, height, status, agency, 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.