FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Skagit County, Washington

Sauk Mountain Lookout Site

Cupola cabin built 1928 on Sauk Mountain (Skagit Co.), flat cab 1957-58, removed by the Forest Service in 1986; hikers still reach the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Lookout removed by the Forest Service in 1986 (the register says 1991); the summit is a hiking destination.

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. Maintained Forest Service trail 613, heavily used; trailhead road described as fine for ordinary cars in June 2026.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
About 4.2 miles round trip with 1,200 feet of gain from the trailhead off Highway 20.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabcupola cabin (1928), replaced by an R-6 flat cabThe designs: R-6, Cupola house
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1928
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,537 ft (1,688 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Skagit County, Washington
Coordinates
48.52189, −121.60067
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-sauk-mountain

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 3.8 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. 1928 BuiltCupola cabin, the first lookout building on the siteSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1942 EventUsed as Aircraft Warning Service station 'Yoke 6-5' during WWIISource: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1943 EventAircraft Warning Service station inactivated 16 Oct 1943; Forest Service kept the site for fire detectionSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1953 StaffedManned by Philip WhalenSource: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1957 Replaced by a new structureFlat-top cab and tower built per Willhite; helicopter lift of material in Aug 1957 per Arlington Times itemSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1958 Replaced by a new structureR-6 flat cab per the register and firelookout.com (date differs from Willhite's 1957)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. No record between 1958 and 1986
  8. 1986 RemovedLookout removed by the Forest Service, due to vandalism per 2013 trip reportSources: willhiteweb.com, wta.org, wta.org
  9. 1991 RemovedRegister gives 1991 as the removal year; most other sources say 1986Source: firetower.org
  10. No record between 1991 and 2012
  11. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register, April 24, 2012Source: firetower.org
  12. 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 first lookout on Sauk Mountain, in Skagit County, was a cupola cabin built in 1928.1,2,3 The register and firelookout.com date its replacement, an R-6 flat cab, to 1958.1,2 A Willhite page says a flat-top cab and tower went up in 1957,3 and a 1957 Arlington Times item, quoted on another lookout history site, describes a helicopter hauling material to the summit to build a new lookout.4

The lookout served as an Aircraft Warning Service station, "Yoke 6-5," during World War II, starting in 1942.3 That station was deactivated in October 1943, and the Forest Service kept the site for fire detection.4,3 A Willhite page says Philip Whalen manned the lookout in 1953.3

Most sources say the Forest Service removed the lookout in 1986.3,5,6,7 A 2013 trip report says vandalism was the reason.5 The register entry gives 1991 instead.1

Today the summit is a hiking destination.6,7 The Forest Service calls trail 613 heavily used and says the site once hosted a fire lookout, removed in the 1980s.7 The round trip is 4.2 miles with about 1,200 feet of gain.6 A June 2026 hiker found the road to the trailhead fine, though a little rough in spots.6 That hiker also reported a steel cross that remains near the old lookout site. The hiker found little information about the cross, and a few people the hiker asked online did not seem to remember when it appeared.6 Apart from the cross, the report does not describe what is left of the lookout.6

  1. Sauk Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/sauk-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Sauk Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, Fire Lookout website (firelookout.com), https://www.firelookout.com/wa/sauk.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Sauk Mountain Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/sauk_mountain/trail_165.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Sauk Mountain, Forest Lookouts (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/sauk-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Sauk Mountain trip report (2013), Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report.2013-08-23.1572535414 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Sauk Mountain trip report (June 2026), Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report-2026-06-23.124858203813 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  7. Sauk Mountain Trail 613, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/mbs/recreation/trails/sauk-mountain-trail-613 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Sauk Mountain 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, 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.