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Fire lookout · Pend Oreille County, Washington

Shedroof Mountain Lookout Site

Shedroof Mountain summit site in Pend Oreille County: camp 1915, cupola 1926, 30-foot pole tower 1938, removed in the 1950s. Footings remain, per Willhite's 2022 visit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed in the 1950s; four footings from the 1938 tower and a footing from the 1926 cupola cabin remain

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 on foot by a trail from a north trailhead, via national forest roads; the pages read describe no closure or permit

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Willhite gives 4 miles from the north trailhead with 1,100 feet of elevation gain; the trail runs the whole way

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower30-foot pole tower with L-4 cab (1938), replacing a 1926 cupola cabinThe designs: L-4, Cupola house
Built of
Wood
Built
1918
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
6,764 ft (2,062 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Pend Oreille County, Washington
Coordinates
48.93282, −117.04611
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-shedroof-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 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. 1915 EventA camp was established at the siteSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1918 BuiltLog cabin added just south of the summitSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1926 BuiltCupola cabin built on the summitSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1938 Replaced by a new structure30-foot pole tower with L-4 cab replaced the cupola cabinSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1938 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: December 17, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  7. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

Shedroof Mountain stands at 6,764 feet (2,062 m) in Pend Oreille County, Washington, on the Kaniksu and Colville national forests.1 A camp was established at the site in 1915.1,2 A log cabin was added just south of the summit in 1918, and a cupola cabin was built on the summit in 1926.1,2

In 1938 a 30-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab replaced the cupola.1,2 The register and WillhiteWeb say the tower was removed in the 1950s.1,2 Rex's Fire Lookout Page says it was destroyed in that decade.3

Willhite visited in 2022 and photographed what is left on the summit: four footings from the 1938 tower, a footing from the 1926 cupola cabin, and a summit benchmark.2

Willhite's directions start in Metaline Falls.2 Drive north on Highway 31 for 2.1 miles to Sullivan Lake Road.2 Turn right and drive 4.9 miles to Forest Road 22, then take Road 2220 for 13 miles to its end.2 The hike from the north trailhead is four miles with about 1,100 feet of climb, and Willhite says the trail runs the whole way.2 The first mile follows what was once a road.2

  1. Shedroof Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/shedroof-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Shedroof Mountain Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com Washington Fire Lookouts, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/shedroof_mountain_lookout/cupola_214.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Shedroof Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/shedroof.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Shedroof 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, 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, 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.