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Fire lookout · Pend Oreille County, Washington

South Baldy Lookout

Also known as South Baldy Mountain

Colville NF lookout: 1960 41-foot R-6 tower, fourth lookout on the site; unstaffed since 2010 per guides, though a Forest Service page says staffed in summer.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. no closure notice found in the sources read; the road needs high clearance; current visiting conditions not confirmed

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
rocky road from Usk via Kings Lake Road and FR50; high clearance probably needed
Staffing
Not staffed

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower14 by 14 foot R-6 flat-roof cab atop a 41-foot wooden towerThe designs: R-6, Cupola house
Built of
Wood
Height
41 ft (12.5 m)
Elevation
5,944 ft (1,812 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Colville National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Pend Oreille County, Washington
Coordinates
48.42334, −117.13747
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-south-baldy

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

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. 1909 Builtfirst lookout on the site, a one-room log cabin, about half a mile southeast of the present towerSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1915 Replaced by a new structurelog cabin built on the summit to replace the 1909 cabinSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1925 EventJuly 1925 lightning strike in the summit cabin killed lookout Paul Blickensderfer; companion Orin Blake stunned and burnedSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1929 Replaced by a new structurecupola lookout (R-3 cupola cabin per firelookout.com) built on the siteSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1929 and 1960
  6. 1960 Builtpresent 41-foot wooden tower with 14 by 14 foot R-6 flat-roof cab constructedSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1960 and 1996
  8. 1996 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterNational Historic Lookout Register registration date January 10, 1996Source: nhlr.org
  9. 2010 Last staffedstaffed most summers until 2010; thieves stripped copper lightning protection wire, and the tower could not be staffed that seasonSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 2011 RestoredSections of the tower legs were replaced, but the stolen lightning protection still needed replacing.Source: firelookout.org
  11. 2015 Condition assessmentThe chapter director joined an assessment tour of the lookout; the Idaho Panhandle NFs want to staff it again.Source: firelookout.org
  12. 2015 FireAugust 2015 forest fire surrounded the tower; crews burned out around it as a precaution; tower survivedSources: firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  13. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The summit of South Baldy, in the Colville National Forest northeast of Usk, has held four lookouts.1,2 The register dates the first lookout to a one-room log cabin in 1909. A second log cabin followed in 1915, and a cupola lookout in 1929.1,3 The tower standing now is a 41-foot wooden tower with a 14-by-14-foot R-6 flat-roofed cab, built in 1960.1,4

In July 1925 a lightning strike in the cabin killed lookout Paul Blickensderfer, who had been sleeping on its floor.2 His companion, Orin Blake, was stunned and suffered slight burns.2 Two 1925 newspaper reports spell the name differently and disagree about when the storm struck.2

The lookout was staffed most summers until 2010.4,2 In that year thieves took the copper lightning-protection wire off the tower, and it could not be staffed that season.4,2

In August 2015 a forest fire surrounded the tower.3,2 Crews burned out the area around it as a precaution, and it survived.3,2

The register's own page marks the lookout as not staffed.1 A Forest Service page for the nearby South Skookum Lake Campground, however, says the lookout is still staffed in summer and describes it as a popular day trip.5 I could not settle that disagreement from these sources.

Getting there means a rocky road from Usk, and Willhite says high clearance is probably needed.4 A visitor's comment on the register page says they took the stairs but could not reach the catwalk, and that the tower needs work.1 I could not confirm whether the tower is open to visitors now.

  1. South Baldy Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/south-baldy-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. South Baldy Mountain, FOREST LOOKOUTS (Washington), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/south-baldy-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. South Baldy Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/sbaldy.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. South Baldy Lookout, Willhite Web, Washington Fire Lookouts, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/south_baldy_lookout/fire_tower_248.htm (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. South Skookum Lake Campground, Colville National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/colville/recreation/south-skookum-lake-campground (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

South Baldy Lookout
South Baldy LookoutPhoto: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
1939 Press Photo - D6 Cupola
1939 Press Photo - D6 Cupola (1939)Photo: Ron Kemnow Collection, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Winter Wonderland
Winter WonderlandPhoto: Ray Kresek, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
South Baldy Lookout
South Baldy LookoutPhoto: Curt McEwan, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
October 2022 photo
October 2022 photo (2022)Photo: Radislav Kozlov, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
South Baldy in 1930
South Baldy in 1930 (1930)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Dave Bula collection, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
South Baldy in 1938
South Baldy in 1938 (1938)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Dave Bula collection, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
South Baldy in 2000
South Baldy in 2000 (2000)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Dave Bula collection, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of South Baldy Lookout
Photo: TrailChick Washington lookout guide (trailchick.com) · 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1960
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1915
    • OpenStreetMap: 1960
    • TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts: 1960

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: design, staffing, photos, 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 Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: height, register numbers, access, links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  6. 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
  7. TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts Gave us: photos, links TrailChick (trailchick.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, coordinates, elevation, lookout type, years built). The guide's text is not reproduced; its card photos are listed with credit to TrailChick, for the project's photo mirroring. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  8. WillhiteWeb.com: Washington Fire Lookouts WillhiteWeb.com · No licence stated; names and page links only (the site's photos and text are not reproduced). · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  9. 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.