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Fire lookout · Kittitas County, Washington

Roaring Ridge Lookout Site

Wenatchee NF L-4 lookout site near Snoqualmie Pass: 1937 tower, 1948 timber replacement, removed 1965-1968; footings and wreckage remain.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Both lookout towers are gone; footings and wreckage remain 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. Reached by Roaring Ridge Road from I-90 Exit 62 and a minor trail; no closure is described in the sources read, but no source confirms current rules

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Minor trail up the north ridge from the end of the road

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 lookout tower; 40-foot treated timber L-4 tower (1948 replacement)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1937
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
4,988 ft (1,520 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Kittitas County, Washington
Coordinates
47.35192, −121.40540
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-roaring-ridge

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 4.2 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 EventPanoramas dated August 10, 1934 show views from a platform 40 feet above the groundSource: willhiteweb.com
  2. 1937 BuiltFirst L-4 tower; a 1934 panorama suggests something stood on the summit earlierSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1948 Replaced by a new structureReplaced by a 40-foot treated timber L-4 tower; willhiteweb.com gives 1948 or 1958Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1948 and 1965
  5. 1965 RemovedRegister says the 1948 tower was removed in 1965; other sources give 1968Source: firetower.org
  6. 1968 Destroyedfirelookout.com says destroyed in 1968; One Hike A Week says removals on the peak took place as late as 1968Sources: firelookout.com, onehikeaweek.com
  7. No record between 1968 and 2010
  8. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 28, 2010; nominated by Irene PotterSource: 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.

Roaring Ridge rises about five miles south of Snoqualmie Pass.1 Driving east over the pass on I-90, it stands out as a peak across Keechelus Lake.2 The register places the site in the Wenatchee National Forest, administered by the U.S. Forest Service.3

The register lists the first lookout here as an L-4 tower built in 1937.3 A later site account argues that something stood on the summit earlier, because panoramic photos taken on August 10, 1934 show a platform about 40 feet above the ground.2

In 1948 a 40-foot treated timber L-4 tower replaced it.3,1 The willhiteweb.com account gives 1948 or 1958 for that change, and notes that the USGS recorded the lookout as new when it benchmarked the summit in 1958.2

The register says the 1948 tower was removed in 1965.3 The firelookout.com page says it was destroyed in 1968, and a hiking blog says the towers on the peak were removed as late as 1968.1,4 The willhiteweb.com account gives 1965 or 1968 and reports that the USGS described the older lookout as torn down.2

Today the summit is turning into forest, and what remains is wreckage rather than a tower.2 The willhiteweb.com account describes heavy wreckage from both structures, two sets of footings beside each other, and plenty of decayed debris hidden in the brush to the west.2 A photo on the register is labelled "Remnants July 2000."3

To get there, the willhiteweb.com account says to take I-90 Exit 62, turn onto the unsigned Roaring Ridge Road, and follow it about 3.5 miles to the end. It recommends high clearance because of rough spots.2 A minor trail climbs the north ridge from the road's end.2 The site sits on national forest land and is reached by road and trail, so it is public, though no source confirms current rules.3,2

  1. Roaring Ridge Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/roaringridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Roaring Ridge Lookout Site, willhiteweb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/roaring_ridge/snoqualmie_pass_346.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Roaring Ridge Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/roaring-ridge-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Roaring Ridge by Mount Catherine, One Hike A Week, https://onehikeaweek.com/2017/02/25/roaring-ridge-ii/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Roaring Ridge Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Remnants July 2000
Remnants July 2000 (2000)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Roaring Ridge Lookout Site
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: 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.