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Fire lookout · King County, Washington

Stampede Pass Lookout Site (now at Camp Waskowitz)

Also known as Camp Waskowitz

1934 40-foot L-4 tower near Stampede Pass; Aircraft Warning Service site 1942-43; airlifted to Camp Waskowitz in 1974, where it is used for school outdoor education.

Original site: Stampede Pass Lookout Site

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Camp Waskowitz is operated by Highline Public Schools for an environmental learning program. Plan any visit through the school program.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower40-foot timber L-4 lookout towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
Unknown
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Unknown
Location
King County, Washington
Coordinates
47.46501, −121.73362
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-stampede-pass-lookout-site-at-camp-waskowitz

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 3.6 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 Built40-foot timber tower with an L-4 cab on a small peak near Stampede PassSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1942 EventActivated for the Aircraft Warning Service on August 14, 1942; ground cabin built; deactivated September 15, 1943Sources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1942 and 1974
  4. 1974 MovedAirlifted by helicopter to Camp Waskowitz as a permanent exhibit; sources differ on whether the whole tower or only the cab flewSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1974 and 2014
  6. 2014 EventVisitor noticed at least two concrete footings still on the original knollSource: willhiteweb.com
  7. Date unknown MovedMoved from Stampede Pass to Camp Waskowitz.Source: FFLA
  8. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Stampede Pass lookout went up in 1934 as a 40-foot timber tower with an L-4 cab, on a small peak about three-quarters of a mile southeast of the pass.1,2 From the cab, lookouts saw the Green River valley off to the west and the Keechelus valley off to the east.2 A smaller 20-foot L-4 tower also stood about a mile north for a time.1

In 1942 the Aircraft Warning Service used the site. The Forest Lookouts Washington page gives its activation as August 14, 1942 and its deactivation as September 15, 1943.3,2 A ground cabin was added as well, since the tall tower proved chilly and noisy in windy weather.2

In 1974 a helicopter flew the tower to Camp Waskowitz, a conservation camp near North Bend, where it was meant to stand as a display.1,2 When plans to destroy it came up, North Bend ranger Ken White arranged the airlift.2 Accounts differ on what flew. The Forest Lookouts page says the cab was airlifted and mounted on a new tower, while the other two accounts describe the whole tower moving.3,1,2 The original knoll still has concrete footings; a visitor noticed at least two of them in 2014.2

The camp, also known as Camp Waskowitz, was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935.4 Highline Public Schools now operates it for an environmental learning program, and the Forest Lookouts page says the tower is used for educational purposes.4,3 Because it is a school program site, check with the district before any visit, and do not climb the tower.

  1. Stampede Pass Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/stampede-pass-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Stampede Pass Lookout, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/hiking/cle_elum/stampede_pass/lookout_194.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Stampede Pass - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts Washington, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/stampede-pass.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Camp North Bend, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_North_Bend (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Sources

  1. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  2. 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
  3. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, 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.