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Fire lookout · King County, Washington

Snowshoe Butte Lookout Site

King County, WA L-5 cab lookout on the Cascade crest, built 1935 and removed or destroyed in 1965; a 2022 hike write-up reports rusted metal remains on the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed in 1965 (register) or destroyed that year (Firelookout.com, Willhite); a 2022 hike write-up reports rusted metal remains on the summit

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Willhite's simplest route starts at Stampede Pass, reached from I-90 at exit 62, with high clearance recommended. The route includes a short bushwhack with brushy game trails

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 cab (Willhite: 'said to be' an L-5 cab); no tower height is given in the sourcesThe design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,134 ft (1,565 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service; Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest per the register (Washington Lookouts says Snoqualmie National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
King County, Washington
Coordinates
47.22691, −121.36553
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-snowshoe-butte

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. 1934 EventOsborne photo team panoramas show cut trees and a line that may be phone or clothes line (Willhite)Source: willhiteweb.com
  2. 1935 BuiltFirst structure, said to be an L-5 cab (Willhite); register and Firelookout.com both give 1935Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. No record between 1935 and 1965
  4. 1965 RemovedCab removed (register) or destroyed (Firelookout.com, Willhite) in 1965; Washington Lookouts lists it as RemovedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1965 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered June 20, 2012 as US 1298, WA 198Source: firetower.org
  7. 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.

Snowshoe Butte rises on the Cascade crest in King County, Washington, between Stampede and Tacoma Passes.1,2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register places it in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.1

The first structure went up in 1935.1,3 Willhite says it was "said to be" an L-5 cab.2 The register and Firelookout.com both describe an L-5 cab from that year.1,3 A year earlier, in August 1934, the Osborne photo team made panoramas showing felled trees and a line that may have been a phone line or a clothesline.2

The register records the cab as removed in 1965.1 Firelookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed that year.3,2 Washington Lookouts lists the site as removed.4 The sources agree on the year but not on how the cab went.

Today a 2022 hike write-up describes rusted metal remains on the summit, which were once part of a lookout standing from 1935 to 1965.5 Willhite's photo captions mention a phone line, nails and glass, and remnants at the site.2

Willhite calls the route from Stampede Pass the simplest. You reach it from I-90 at exit 62, and he says high clearance is recommended.2 He notes the access road comes close to 5,000 feet, and he describes a short bushwhack with brushy game trails.2 Washington Lookouts files the site under the Snoqualmie National Forest, not the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie name the register uses.4 No source we read says whether the road or the summit is open to the public.

  1. Snowshoe Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/snowshoe-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Snowshoe Butte and Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/snowshoe_butte/lookout_site_219.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Snowshoe Butte Fire Lookout Cabin, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/snowshoebutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Snowshoe Butte, Forest Lookouts, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/snowshoe-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Snowshoe Butte by Crossover Butte via Stampede Pass, One Hike A Week, https://onehikeaweek.com/2022/09/22/snowshoe-butte/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Snowshoe Butte Lookout panoramic 8-9-1934 (N)
Snowshoe Butte Lookout panoramic 8-9-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Snowshoe Butte Lookout panoramic 8-9-1934 (SE)
Snowshoe Butte Lookout panoramic 8-9-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Snowshoe Butte Lookout panoramic 8-9-1934 (SW)
Snowshoe Butte Lookout panoramic 8-9-1934 (SW) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Snowshoe Butte Lookout site
Snowshoe Butte Lookout sitePhoto: 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, 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.