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Fire lookout · Pend Oreille County, Washington

Orwig Hump Lookout Site

Kaniksu NF, Pend Oreille County, WA. 40-foot L-4 pole tower built 1934 on a 1932 tree platform; removed (or destroyed) in 1961.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1961 per the register and Willhite; firelookout.com says destroyed. No source describes what remains at the site.

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?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower15-foot tree platform developed in 1932; 40-foot pole tower with L-4 cab built in 1934The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1932
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
5,330 ft (1,625 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Pend Oreille County, Washington
Coordinates
48.71049, −117.11398
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-orwig-hump

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 4.5 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 Built15-foot tree platform developed at the siteSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 Built40-foot pole tower with L-4 cab builtSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1934 and 1958
  4. 1958 Abandoned1958 USGS map (1966 update) shows the site as abandonedSource: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1961 Destroyedfirelookout.com says the tower was destroyed in 1961; conflicts with removedSource: firelookout.com
  6. 1961 RemovedTower removed, per the register and Willhite; Rex's page also lists it as removedSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1961 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 17, 2012; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  9. 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.

The Orwig Hump lookout site lies in the Kaniksu National Forest in Pend Oreille County, Washington, about 14 miles east of Ione.1 In 1932 the site got a 15-foot tree platform.2,3 A 40-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab went up in 1934.2,3 A patrol platform stood two miles to the northwest, on Tillicum Peak.2

The Former Fire Lookout Sites entry and Willhite both say the tower was removed in 1961.2,3 Firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year instead, and Rex's fire lookout page also lists it as removed.1,4 A USGS map from 1958, with a 1966 update, marks Orwig as abandoned.3

The Forest Service administers the land.2 The register gives the elevation as 5,330 feet, though Willhite lists 5,343 feet on older maps.2,3 The register listed the site in December 2012 after a nomination by Ray Kresek.2 No source describes what remains at the site today.

  1. Orwig Hump Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/orwighump.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Orwig Hump Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/orwig-hump-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Orwig Hump Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/orwig_hump/lookout_200.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Orwig Hump - Forest Lookouts, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/orwig-hump.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Orwig Hump Lookout Site
Photo: 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, height, status, agency, 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.