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Fire lookout · Skamania County, Washington

South Point Lookout Site

Forest Service lookout on South Point, Skamania County, WA: 1933 L-4 tower, 41-foot tower from 1952, removed or destroyed in 1972; a radio tower and sheds stand on the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Lookout tower removed or destroyed in 1972; sources disagree on which. A small radio tower and two sheds stand on the summit.

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. Forest Service Trail 123 is open to hikers, horses and bicycles and closed to motorized use. No closure is named in the sources read.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Trail 123 starts on Forest Road 20, 4.8 miles from Highway 12 west of Packwood, and climbs east to the former site through an old burn area. Trailhead space is limited. A 2023 trip report gives 7.7 miles round trip.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower5-foot wooden tower with L-4 cab (1933); 41-foot treated timber tower with L-4 cab (1952 to 1972)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1933
Height
41 ft (12.5 m)
Elevation
5,980 ft (1,823 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Skamania County, Washington
Coordinates
46.52228, −121.64519
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-south-point

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 3.3 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. 1930 EventCamp at the site (firetower.org; WillhiteWeb)Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1933 Built5-foot wooden tower with L-4 cabSources: firelookout.com, firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1934 EventPanoramic photos taken from the site, July 26, 1934Sources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1934 and 1951
  5. 1951 StaffedBob Baldwin performed fire observation duties during the fire seasonSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1952 Replaced by a new structure41-foot timber tower with L-4 cab replaced the 1933 towerSources: firelookout.com, firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1964 EventForest announced May 5, 1964 that 37 manned stations would be cut to six regularly manned lookouts; South Point was one of the six, mainly for communicationsSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1972 DestroyedDestroyed per firelookout.com; WillhiteWeb gives April 3, 1972 and suggests it burnedSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  9. 1972 RemovedRemoved per the register and the Forest Lookouts listSources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1972 and 2012
  11. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered July 17, 2012 as US 1345, WA 245; nominated by Ray KresekSource: 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.

South Point is a 5,980-foot summit in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, about six miles south-southeast of Packwood, Washington.1,2 The Forest Service administers the site.3

The site began as a camp in 1930.3,4 A 5-foot wooden tower with an L-4 cab went up in 1933.2,3,4 Panoramic photos were taken from the site in 1934.4,5 In 1952 a 41-foot timber tower with an L-4 cab replaced it.2,3,4

Bob Baldwin was the lookout in 1951.2,4,5 In May 1964 the forest announced that the 37 stations manned in earlier years would be cut to six, and that air patrols were expected to take over most of the lookout coverage.5 South Point was one of the six, mainly to support communications across the forest.5

Sources disagree about how the 1952 tower ended. The register and the Forest Lookouts list say it was removed in 1972.3,5 Firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year.2 WillhiteWeb gives April 3, 1972 as the day the tower and cab were destroyed, and suggests it may have burned.4

Today the summit has no lookout to climb.3 A 2023 trip report describes two sheds and a tower on top,6 and WillhiteWeb mentions a small communication tower that a helicopter services.4

The Forest Service describes Trail 123 as starting on Forest Road 20 and climbing east through an old open burn area to the former lookout site. It is open to hikers, horses and bicycles, and closed to motorized use.1 Space at the trailhead is limited, and the agency suggests carrying in water, because backcountry streams can run dry.1 From Packwood, go west on State Highway 12 for 3.5 miles, turn left on Forest Road 20, and follow it 4.8 miles to the trail.1

  1. Trail #123 South Point Lookout, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/giffordpinchot/recreation/trails/trail-123-south-point-lookout (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. South Point Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/southpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. South Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/south-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. South Point Lookout, WillhiteWeb, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/south_point_lookout/packwood_hiking_062.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. South Point, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/south-point.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. South Point Lookout by Ives Peak in Gifford Pinchot National Forest, One Hike a Week, https://onehikeaweek.com/2023/11/05/south-point-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

South Point Lookout (no date)
South Point Lookout (no date)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
South Point Lookout (no date)
South Point Lookout (no date)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, 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, 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

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