FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Mason County, Washington

Simpson Lookout Site

Mason County state fire tower built 1936, staffed to 1956, replaced by South Mountain, destroyed 1961; one footing reported, and the site is a logging landing on Green Diamond land.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower destroyed in 1961; later logging covered the site in crushed rock; one footing reported, and a 2022 visitor found no recognizable artifacts

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. On Green Diamond tree farm land: no pass or permit required; motorized access through a gate only during autumn hunting season; non-motorized visits year-round when forestry work is not posted (2022 write-up)

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Willhite lists 3 miles from a parking spot on the 800 line; roads off that line are usually signed to mean no motor vehicles; the 2022 write-up gives 3.4 to 6.6 mile round trips from different starting points

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower40-foot timber tower with a 14x14 cab (L-4 cab per firelookout.com)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1936
Height
Unknown
Elevation
1,200 ft (366 m)
Agency
Washington Division of Forestry/DNR (register)
Land
State land
Location
Mason County, Washington
Coordinates
47.29447, −123.31170
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-simpson

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 4.1 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. 1936 Built40-foot treated timber tower with a 14x14 cab built by the stateSources: willhiteweb.com, firelookout.com, firetower.org
  2. 1944 EventAircraft Warning Service station Charlie 2-1, run jointly by Simpson Logging Company and the state; afterward the state kept the site as a fire detection pointSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1956 Replaced by a new structureSouth Mountain lookout announced to replace the Simpson lookoutSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1956 Last staffedMrs. Roe Franklin transferred from the Simpson lookout to the new South Mountain lookoutSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1961 Destroyedfirelookout.com and Willhite say destroyed; register says removed that yearSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. 1961 RemovedRegister says the tower was removed in 1961Source: firetower.org
  7. No record between 1961 and 1980
  8. 1980 EventAround the 1980s the site became a logging landing; the site has since been covered in crushed rockSource: willhiteweb.com
  9. No record between 1980 and 2012
  10. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered January 20, 2012 as US 1208, WA 109Source: firetower.org
  11. 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.

Simpson Lookout stood about 11 miles northwest of Shelton, in Mason County, Washington.1 The register lists it as administered by the Washington Division of Forestry/DNR.2 The tower was built partway down the southern slope of Simpson Peak, and a 2022 hike write-up places the site in the Green Diamond tree farm.3

An early picture shows a crude structure on the site before 1936, but its start date is unknown.4 In 1936 the state built a 40-foot timber tower with a 14-by-14-foot cab.4,2,1

In 1944 the Aircraft Warning Service used the site as station Charlie 2-1, run jointly by the Simpson Logging Company and the state.4,5 When that service ended, the state kept the site as a fire detection point.5

A 1956 Daily Chronicle item, quoted by Forest Lookouts, announced a new South Mountain lookout to replace the Simpson lookout, and said Mrs. Roe Franklin would move from Simpson to the new station.5 Willhite names her as the lookout at that time.4

The sources disagree on the elevation. The 1956 item gives 1,000 feet, firelookout.com gives 1,200 feet, and Willhite and the 2022 write-up give 1,240 feet.5,1,4,3 Willhite places South Mountain nearby but over 2,000 feet higher.4

Firelookout.com and Willhite say the Simpson tower was destroyed in 1961, and the register says it was removed that year.1,4,2 Around the 1980s the site became a logging landing, and crushed rock now covers the site.4

Willhite found little to see, and one footing, half buried and thrown over the side.4 A 2022 hike write-up found no recognizable artifacts, although its author did not search the salal thoroughly.3

Willhite gives the hike as about 3 miles on good gravel roads.4 He says roads off the 800 line are usually signed with a red dot, which means no motor vehicles.4 The 2022 write-up says no pass or permit is required, and that non-motorized visits are allowed year-round when forestry work is not posted.3

  1. Simpson Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/simpson.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Simpson Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, Forest Fire Lookout Association, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/simpson-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Simpson Lookout Site 2022 Hike Route, leslieromer.com, https://leslieromer.com/2022/12/24/simpson-lookout-site-%CB%97-2022-hike-route/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Simpson Lookout - Mason County Washington, Will Hite, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/simpson_hill/olympic_mountains_417.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Simpson, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/simpson.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Simpson Lookout - no date
Simpson Lookout - no datePhoto: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Simpson Lookout first lookout (before 1936)
Simpson Lookout first lookout (before 1936) (1936)Photo: Eric Willhite collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Simpson Lookout Site 2016
Simpson Lookout Site 2016 (2016)Photo: Eric Willhite, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Simpson Lookout panoramic 7-23-37 (N)
Simpson Lookout panoramic 7-23-37 (N)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Simpson Lookout panoramic 7-23-37 (SW)
Simpson Lookout panoramic 7-23-37 (SW)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Simpson Lookout panoramic 7-23-37 (SE)
Simpson Lookout panoramic 7-23-37 (SE)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via 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: 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, 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

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