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Fire lookout · Pierce County, Washington

Saint Paul Lookout Site

Pierce County L-4 lookout built in 1954 and removed or destroyed in 1972; the summit was logged around 2014 and the footings are visible on permit-only timberland.

Permission required

You need permission from the tribe or landowner before visiting. Private timberland. WillhiteWeb's 2016 visit found a permit required from Hancock Forest Management, and says ownership and rules likely changed. Gravel road.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1972 per FFLOS; firelookout.com and WillhiteWeb say destroyed that year. Summit logged around 2014.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Permission required. See the warning at the top of this page.

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
No tower remains to climb. The footings are set to one side and visible, per the 2016 visit. A permit is required.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerWooden L-4 cab tower; FFLOS and firelookout.com say 40 feet, a biennial report quoted by Forest Lookouts and WillhiteWeb says 20 feetThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1954
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
2,970 ft (905 m)
Agency
Washington Division of Forestry/DNR
Land
State land
Location
Pierce County, Washington
Coordinates
46.92765, −122.07952
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-saint-paul

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. 1952 EventForestry Division biennial report calls a lookout on the site urgently needed and says a new road is partly builtSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1954 Built40-foot wooden L-4 tower built in 1954 per FFLOS and firelookout.com; a later report describes 20 feetSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1954 and 1972
  4. 1972 RemovedRemoved per FFLOS; firelookout.com and WillhiteWeb say destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1972 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered June 20, 2012, nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  7. 2014 EventSummit logged around 2014; slash buried much of what could have been lookout structureSource: willhiteweb.com
  8. 2016 Condition assessmentWillhiteWeb site visit; footings set to one side and visible; permit required on private timberlandSource: willhiteweb.com
  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.

The Saint Paul lookout stood on a peak in Pierce County, about 16 miles west-northwest of Mount Rainier.1 A 1952 biennial report from the state Forestry Division called a lookout on the site urgently needed, and said a new road to it was partly built.2,3 The Register and firelookout.com date the tower to 1954 and describe a 40-foot wooden L-4 tower.4,1

Not everyone agrees on the height.4,1,2,3 A later report described a 20-foot tower with a 14x14 cab on top.2,3 Eric Willhite thinks that figure is too low, and says the tower looks more like a 30- or 40-foot structure.3 Reaching the site took six miles of converted railroad grade and about three-quarters of a mile of new road.2,3

The Register says the tower was removed in 1972.4 Firelookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed that year, and Forest Lookouts marks it simply as removed.4,1,2,3

Around 2014 the summit was logged, and the slash from that work now covers much of the possible remains.3 When Willhite visited in 2016, the footings sat to one side and were visible.3 No tower stands there now.3

The land is private timber.3 Willhite says that in 2016 the owner was Hancock Forest Management, which required an expensive permit, and he thinks ownership and rules have likely changed since.3 The road is gravel and the site can be reached by car, but you need a permit to go up.3 The Register, by contrast, names the state Division of Forestry/DNR as the administrator.4

  1. St. Paul Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/stpaul.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Saint Paul, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/saint-paul.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. St. Paul Lookout - Kapowsin Tree Farm, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/st_paul_lookout/kapowsin_tree_farm_027.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Saint Paul Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/saint-paul-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Saint Paul 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, 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: height, ownership, 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.