FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Skamania County, Washington

Spencer Butte Lookout Site

Forest Service lookout on Spencer Butte, Skamania County, WA: D-6 cupola in the 1920s, then a 20-foot L-4 tower (1935 to 1938 by source), removed or destroyed; footings remain on the summit.

Ruins: Only footings or remains are left. Register and firelookout.com say both structures were removed or destroyed; footings and a concrete foundation remain on the summit.

Visit & stay

Ruins: footings or remains only. There is no structure to climb or rent.

Access

Open to the public. Forest Service Trail 30 runs from trailheads on FR 93. The sources read name no closure or permit requirement.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Hike from a trailhead on FR 93, reached by the paved road from FR 25. Sources give the trail length as about 1.5, 1.6 or 3.2 miles one way. No lookout remains to climb.

Facts

Status
Ruins
Type
Cab on a towerD-6 cupola cabin (1920s); 20-foot timber tower with L-4 cab (1938 per most sources; 1935 per two others)The designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1920
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
4,247 ft (1,295 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Skamania County, Washington
Coordinates
46.16073, −121.94151
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-spencer-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 its recorded height.

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. 1920 BuiltSite developed as a lookout with a D-6 cupola cabin. The register says the 1920s; WillhiteWeb and the Forest Lookouts list say 1920Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. No record between 1920 and 1935
  3. 1935 EventForest Service trail page and Oregon Hikers date the lookout to 1935; disputed against 1938Sources: fs.usda.gov, oregonhikers.org
  4. 1936 EventWillhiteWeb photo caption says the tower and L-4 were under construction in 1936Source: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1938 Built20-foot timber tower with L-4 cab; the register, firelookout.com, WillhiteWeb and Forest Lookouts all give 1938Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1938 and 2012
  7. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered July 18, 2012 as US 1346, WA 246; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  8. Date unknown Destroyedfirelookout.com says both structures were destroyed; no year givenSource: firelookout.com
  9. Date unknown RemovedRegister and Forest Lookouts list say both structures were removed; no year givenSources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. TodayRuinsOnly footings or remains are 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.

Spencer Butte is a 4,247-foot summit in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, in Skamania County, Washington.1 The Forest Service administers the site.1

The register and firelookout.com date the site's development to the 1920s, and its first structure was a D-6 cupola cabin.1,2 WillhiteWeb and the Forest Lookouts list give 1920 as the start.3,4 A 20-foot timber tower with an L-4 cab followed in 1938, a year all four sources give.1,2,3,4

Two other sources disagree about the tower's date. The Forest Service trail page and Oregon Hikers both give 1935,5,6 and a WillhiteWeb photo caption places the tower under construction in 1936.3

The register says both structures have been removed, and firelookout.com says both were destroyed.1,2 The Forest Lookouts list says the lookout was removed.4 Some remains are still on the summit.3,5,6 A WillhiteWeb photo caption mentions two lookout footings, and the same page notes that some bolts, nails and glass remain.3 Oregon Hikers describes a concrete foundation at the top, and the Forest Service says the remains of a lookout are on the summit.6,5

Accounts of the top differ. Oregon Hikers calls it grassy, while WillhiteWeb says trees have again covered the broad summit, leaving no views.6,3 The Forest Service says the canopy mostly hides the skyline.5

The Forest Service lists Trail 30 as the Spencer Butte Trail.5 From FR 25, the paved FR 93 runs about 7.6 miles to a high saddle with parking at the south trailhead.3 Trail lengths differ: Oregon Hikers says about 1.5 miles from either FR 93 trailhead, WillhiteWeb gives 1.6 miles one way, and the Forest Service lists 3.2 miles one way from the south.6,3,5

  1. Spencer Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/spencer-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Spencer Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/spencerbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Spencer Butte Lookout Site and Breezy Point, WillhiteWeb, http://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/spencer_butte/breezy_point_314.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Spencer Butte, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/spencer-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Trail #30 & #30A Spencer Butte & Breezy Point, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/giffordpinchot/recreation/trails/trail-30-30a-spencer-butte-breezy-point (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Spencer Butte (Gifford Pinchot), Oregon Hikers Field Guide, https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Spencer_Butte_(Gifford_Pinchot) (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Spencer Butte Lookout Site
Photo: 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: design, height, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.