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Fire lookout · Whatcom County, Washington

Roland Point Lookout Site

Whatcom County, WA lakeside site: a 1933 L-5 cab and crows nest lookout, a 1942-43 Aircraft Warning Service post, removed or destroyed in 1959; footings remain.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed or destroyed in 1959 (the register and the Forest Lookouts page say removed; FireLookout.com says destroyed). Photo captions show an outhouse's remains and footings.

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. No trail reaches the site. It is reached on foot from the Ross Lake shore or from boating camps; a 2022 trip report describes a campsite for which the writer got a camping permit.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
No trail to the site. Per WillhiteWeb, it is under a mile from the lake through forest that is easy walking.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 cab with a crows nest; WillhiteWeb says possibly a 35-foot tower added laterThe design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,983 ft (604 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Mt. Baker National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Whatcom County, Washington
Coordinates
48.76914, −121.03484
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-roland-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 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. 1933 BuiltBuilt with an L-5 cab and a crows nest; WillhiteWeb says a 35-foot tower may have been added laterSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1942 EventActivated as an Aircraft Warning Service station on April 6, 1942; the AWS added sleeping quartersSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1943 EventAWS station deactivated October 16, 1943; the Forest Service retained the site and continued it as a fire lookoutSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. No record between 1943 and 1959
  5. 1959 RemovedRemoved (register, Forest Lookouts page) or destroyed (FireLookout.com); WillhiteWeb says removed or destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1959 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered April 24, 2012 as US 1259, WA 159Source: 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.

Roland Point is in Whatcom County, Washington, on Mt. Baker National Forest land. It rises about 400 feet from the Ross Lake shore when the lake is full.1,2

A lookout went up in 1933, with an L-5 cab and a crows nest. WillhiteWeb says a 35-foot tower may have been added later.3,2

During the war years the site also served as an Aircraft Warning Service station, active from April 6, 1942 to October 16, 1943.2,1 The AWS also put sleeping quarters on the site.1 When the post closed, the Forest Service kept the site and continued it as a fire lookout.2

The lookout was gone in 1959.3,1 The register and the Forest Lookouts page say it was removed, FireLookout.com says it was destroyed, and WillhiteWeb says removed or destroyed.3,1,4,2

Photo captions credited to Eric Willhite show the remains of an outhouse, and WillhiteWeb's captions label footings at the site.3,2 No source describes the remains in more detail than these captions.3,2

No trail gets up to the site, but the forest is easy walking from the lakeshore or boating camps.2 WillhiteWeb puts the walk at under a mile from the lake.2 A 2022 trip report describes a boat-in campsite limited to two tent sites, and says the writer got a camping permit for it.5

  1. Roland Point - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/roland-point.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Roland Point Lookout Site - Ross Lake, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/roland_point_lookout/ross_lake_194.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Roland Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/roland-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Roland Point Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/rolandpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Roland Point - Ross Lake, Hike2Hike.com, https://hike2hike.com/boating/roland-point-north-cascades-ross-lake/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Roland Point Lookout site
Roland Point Lookout sitePhoto: Eric Willhite, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Roland Point Lookout site
Roland Point Lookout sitePhoto: Eric Willhite, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Roland Point Lookout outhouse remains
Roland Point Lookout outhouse remainsPhoto: Eric Willhite, via 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, 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.