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Fire lookout · Kittitas County, Washington

Peoh Point Lookout Site

DNR lookout above Cle Elum: L-4 cab built 1951, DNR live-in cab on a concrete base 1974, removed 1996; part of the structure now sits in a communications building.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed in 1996; a small portion is part of a communications structure on the point

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. A yellow gate on the access road may be locked (Willhite); the point now holds communication buildings. Level is our reading of the gate and the communications use, not a posted rule

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Willhite: drive-up or under a mile, with a gate just under a mile from the lookout; if locked, walk the road. A 2022 trip report found the road ends at a yellow gate, about a half-mile walk to the point

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Two-story buildingL-4 cab (1951), then a DNR live-in cab on a 10-foot concrete block base (1974)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1951
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,020 ft (1,225 m)
Agency
Washington Dept. of Natural Resources
Land
Unknown
Location
Kittitas County, Washington
Coordinates
47.15214, −120.94825
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-peoh-point

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 3.9 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. 1950 EventThree miles of road built to reach a proposed lookoutSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1951 BuiltL-4 cab built, per the register, firelookout.com and WillhiteSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1951 Replaced by a new structureForest Lookouts says a 14x14-foot ground house was built as a replacement lookout that year; this conflicts with the L-4 cab accountSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1951 and 1974
  5. 1974 BuiltDNR live-in cab on a 10-foot concrete block baseSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1974 and 1996
  7. 1996 RemovedRegister says removed by DNR; firelookout.com says ordered destroyed; Forest Lookouts says the remaining portion became a communications buildingSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1996 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered August 15, 2012 as US 1376, WA 276; nominated by Ray KresekSource: 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.

Peoh Point sits about three miles south of Cle Elum in Kittitas County, on what the register calls a 2000-foot cliff.1,2 A proposed lookout there got three miles of access road in 1950.3,4

The register, firelookout.com and Willhite say an L-4 cab was built on the point in 1951.1,2,3 The Forest Lookouts page gives a different account for that year, describing a 14-by-14-foot ground house built as a replacement lookout.4

In 1974 the Washington Department of Natural Resources put a live-in cab on a 10-foot concrete block base.1,3 The register notes that the cab was briefly seen in the television series Northern Exposure, which was filmed in nearby Roslyn.1

DNR removed the lookout in 1996.1,4 One listing says it was ordered destroyed that year.2 Forest Lookouts says the remaining portion was turned into a communications building.4 Willhite says a small portion of the lookout is now part of the communications structure.3

Today the point holds communication buildings, and the views are still there.3 A 2022 trip report says the road ends at a yellow gate, about a half-mile walk from the point and its communications area.5 Willhite says the gate may be locked, and if it is, the walk is under a mile.3

  1. Peoh Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/peoh-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Peoh Point Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/peoh.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Peoh Point Lookout - Cle Elum Washington, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/hiking/cle_elum/peoh_point/lookout_189.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Peoh Point, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/peoh-point.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Peoh Point trip report (2022-10-18), Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2022-10-18.3519202829 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Peoh Point Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1952
1952 (1952)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, 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.