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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Pearygin Peak Lookout Site

Okanogan National Forest 20-foot L-4 pole tower built 1935 on Pearygin Peak; removed or destroyed in 1953; a 2022 visitor found an outhouse and relic wood on the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed or destroyed in 1953; a 2022 visitor found an outhouse, a benchmark anchor and relic wood on the summit

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. On Okanogan National Forest land; the 2022 visitor account describes a hike and mentions no closure or gate. Inferred from that account, not a posted status

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
About 3 miles one way with 2,000 feet of gain. The road is washed out about half a mile short of the end, and the last mile and a half is a rough bushwhack (2022 account)

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower20-foot pole tower with an L-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1935
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
6,644 ft (2,025 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.53102, −120.02724
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-pearygin-peak

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 4.1 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. 1935 Built20-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab, per the register and WillhiteSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. No record between 1935 and 1950
  3. 1950 Condition assessmentUSGS visit: placed a benchmark about 10 feet north of the lookout and described a 14-foot-square wooden building on four pole legs, about 40 feet highSource: willhiteweb.com
  4. 1953 DestroyedRegister says removed; firelookout.com and Willhite say destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1956 Condition assessmentUSGS return visit recorded that the Forest Service had destroyed the towerSource: willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1956 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 18, 2012 as US 1459, WA 359Source: firetower.org
  8. 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.

Pearygin Peak, about eight miles northeast of Winthrop in the Okanogan National Forest, got a fire lookout in 1935.1,2 The register calls it a 20-foot pole L-4 tower.1 Willhite spells the name Pearrygin and describes a 20-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab on top.3

In 1950 the U.S. Geological Survey visited the summit and placed a benchmark about 10 feet north of the lookout.3 The survey's description of the structure does not match that height. It describes a wooden building 14 feet square on four pole legs, about 40 feet high.3 The sources disagree on the height, and the 20-foot figure comes from the register and Willhite.1,3

The lookout was destroyed in 1953.3 The register says it was removed, while firelookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed.1,2,3 The Forest Lookouts listing simply marks it "Removed."4 When the USGS returned in 1956, it recorded that the Forest Service had destroyed the tower.3

A 2022 visitor reached the peak up the Pearrygin Creek approach, a fairly good road that is washed out about half a mile short of the end.3 The trail became hard to follow after the first half mile because of wildfire damage, and the last mile and a half was a rough bushwhack.3 The visitor's photos show an outhouse still standing and an anchor and directional benchmark.3 The visitor says a recent fire skipped the summit and left the relic wood in place.3 The visitor reported only partial views from the top.3 The hike is three miles one way, with about 2,000 feet of climbing.3

The summit is on Okanogan National Forest land.1

  1. Pearygin Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/pearygin-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Pearygin Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/pearyginpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Pearrygin Peak Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/pearygin_peak_lookout/winthrop_096.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Pearygin Peak, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/pearygin-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Pearygin Peak 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, 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.