FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Kittitas County, Washington

Stafford Lookout Site

Kittitas County site: 1933 camp, L-4 cab built 1935, abandoned around 1966; footings and anchors remain on a one-mile old-road hike.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The register says the lookout was abandoned in 1966 and is no longer standing; FireLookout.com also lists it as gone.

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. Directions run from the North Fork Teanaway Road to the Stafford Creek Road (9703) on Wenatchee National Forest land; WillhiteWeb says high clearance is best and the road can be walked.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
WillhiteWeb gives one mile one-way with 700 feet of gain. A 2020 trip report describes it as an old road leading to the old lookout site. Nothing is left to climb.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,784 ft (1,153 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Kittitas County, Washington
Coordinates
47.35776, −120.84330
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-stafford

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 4.0 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. 1933 StaffedB. D. March named as Stafford Creek lookout-fireman; WillhiteWeb says the site was a camp unless an earlier structure existedSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 EventPanoramas taken from the ground; trees cut to open the viewSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1935 BuiltL-4 cab constructed on the siteSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1938 EventForest Service building a combination garage and woodshed (WillhiteWeb)Source: willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1938 and 1966
  6. 1966 AbandonedAbandoned; register says no longer standing, WillhiteWeb says everything abandoned around that yearSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1966 and 2020
  8. 2020 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered April 13, 2020; nominated by Tammy McLeodSource: firetower.org
  9. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Stafford Lookout Site sits in the Wenatchee National Forest, in Kittitas County, Washington, roughly 12 miles north-northeast of Cle Elum.1,2

A Leavenworth newspaper article names B. D. March as the Stafford Creek lookout-fireman in 1933.2,3 WillhiteWeb says the place was a camp at that time unless an earlier structure existed.3 Ground-level panoramas followed in 1934.3 The site's L-4 cab went up in 1935.1,2,3 In 1938 the Forest Service was working on a garage and woodshed combination there, WillhiteWeb reports.3

The register says the lookout was abandoned in 1966 and no longer stands.1 FireLookout.com also lists it as gone.2 WillhiteWeb dates the abandonment to around 1966.3 WillhiteWeb also reports that some inventories wrongly name the site Standup Ridge Lookout.3

Directions run from the North Fork Teanaway Road to the Stafford Creek Road (9703).3 WillhiteWeb says a high-clearance vehicle is best and that the road can be walked, and it gives the hike as one mile one-way with about 700 feet of gain.3 A 2020 hiker describes an old road of roughly a mile leading to the old lookout site.4 WillhiteWeb's photos from October 2, 2021 show footings and anchors at the site.3 No tower is left to climb.1

  1. Stafford Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/stafford-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Stafford Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/stafford.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Stafford Creek Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/stafford_creek_lookout/cle_elum_048.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Stafford Lookout trip report, April 29, 2020, Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/trip-reports/trip_report-2020-04-29-4093243884 (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Stafford Lookout panoramic 8-28-1934 (N)
Stafford Lookout panoramic 8-28-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Stafford Lookout panoramic 8-28-1934 (SE)
Stafford Lookout panoramic 8-28-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Stafford Lookout panoramic 8-28-1934 (SW)
Stafford Lookout panoramic 8-28-1934 (SW) (1934)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, 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. 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

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