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Fire lookout · Lewis County, Washington

Pompey Peak Lookout Site

Gone 1930s wooden L-4 cab on Pompey Peak, Gifford Pinchot NF, WA; Aircraft Warning post 1942-43; burned 1958; a 2021 note says the trailhead road washed out.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Burned in 1958; a 1961 USGS party found the lookout house and other buildings burned

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. Trail 128 is open to hikers, horses and bicycles and closed to motorized use. A 2021 Forest Service note says the trailhead road has been washed out; Willhite describes a drivable approach on Forest Road 20.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Willhite's route: Forest Road 20 for roughly 13 miles, then the Klickitat Trail and Pompey Peak Trail from the east, a 9.5-mile round trip. The Forest Service says the trail is reached from Klickitat Trail #7 or from Forest Road 20 at Jackpot Lake.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Two-story buildingWooden L-4 cab, 10 ft per FFLOS; one side on the summit rocks and the other on a lower level (Willhite)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,180 ft (1,579 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Lewis County, Washington
Coordinates
46.50126, −121.76711
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-pompey-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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.7 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 BuiltForest Service says a fire lookout was built on the summit in 1934; FFLOS and firelookout.com say the 1930s; Willhite says likely the early 1930sSources: fs.usda.gov, firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1942 First staffedAircraft Warning Service activated November 8, 1942; the first staffing in the sources readSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1943 Last staffedAircraft Warning Service deactivated October 15, 1943Sources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1950 AbandonedAbandoned in the 1950s (the sources give the decade only)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  5. 1958 BurnedBurned in 1958Sources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. 1961 Condition assessmentUSGS party in 1961 confirmed the lookout house and all other buildings had burnedSource: willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1961 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered July 16, 2012 as US 1337, WA 237Source: 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.

Pompey Peak is in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Lewis County, Washington, at 5,180 feet.1

The Forest Service dates the summit lookout to 1934.2 Willhite thinks it was probably put up in the early 1930s, and describes a cab that rests partly on the summit rocks and partly on a lower level.3 The register describes the lookout as a 10-foot wooden L-4 tower.1

The peak takes its name from a pack mule that the Forest Service says died in a fall in the 1890s.2 Willhite calls that story questionable, because the name was already on a 1915 map before any structure was built there.3

During World War II the lookout was used by the Aircraft Warning Service. The post ran from November 8, 1942 to October 15, 1943.3,4 A 1956 newspaper item says a woman worked with the Aircraft Warning Service during the war.4

The lookout was abandoned in the 1950s.1,5 It burned in 1958, and a 1961 USGS party found the lookout house and other buildings burned.5,3 The register added the site on July 16, 2012.1

Today the register describes the lookout as gone, and the Forest Service says it was given up and later destroyed.1,2 Trail 128 allows hikers, horses and bicycles, but not motorized vehicles.2 A Forest Service note dated October 4, 2021 says the trailhead has been unreachable for a decade because of road washouts, so call the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District at (360) 497-1100 before you go.2 Willhite describes a different approach: drive Forest Road 20 for roughly 13 miles, then hike in from the east, using the Klickitat Trail and the Pompey Peak Trail, a 9.5-mile round trip.3

  1. Pompey Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/pompey-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Trail #128 Pompey Peak, U.S. Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/giffordpinchot/recreation/trails/trail-128-pompey-peak (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Pompey Peak Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb Washington Fire Lookouts, http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/pompey_peak_lookout/gifford_pinchot_261.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Pompey Peak, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/pompey-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Pompey Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/pompeypeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Pompey Peak Lookout 1934
Pompey Peak Lookout 1934 (1934)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Pompey Peak Lookout 1958
Pompey Peak Lookout 1958 (1958)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection - Paul Buntain photo, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Pompey Peak Lookout 1958
Pompey Peak Lookout 1958 (1958)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection - Paul Buntain photo, 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, 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, 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.