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Fire lookout · Skamania County, Washington

Steamboat Mountain Lookout Site

Steamboat Mountain's 1928 cabin gave way to a 1956 R-6 timber tower, staffed to about 1965 and gone by 1966; four corner blocks remain in the summit area.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed by 1966, by burning according to Will Hite and the Washington lookouts page, or torn down according to Oregon Hikers; four corner blocks remain in the summit area

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. Easy trail; Will Hite gives the hike distance as 3/4 mile and says the trail climbs 600 feet from the parking area; gravel-road trailhead in the Indian Heaven Wilderness

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Hike distance 3/4 mile per Will Hite; trail climbs 600 feet from the parking area; the trailhead sits at a huge quarry reached by gravel road

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 flat cab on a 20-foot treated timber tower (1956); earlier 14-by-14-foot cabin (1928)The design: R-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1928
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
5,424 ft (1,653 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Skamania County, Washington
Coordinates
46.13812, −121.72789
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-steamboat-mountain

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 3.6 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. 1928 Built14-by-14-foot cabin built per the register and FireLookout.com; Will Hite dates a cathedral-style lookout to 1928Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1930 EventWashington lookouts page dates a cathedral-style lookout house to 1930, citing a January 1931 newspaper itemSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1930 and 1956
  4. 1956 Replaced by a new structureCabin replaced by a 20-foot treated timber tower with R-6 flat cabSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1964 StaffedForest supervisor said Steamboat would be the only manned lookout in the Mt. Adams district; six of 37 forest lookouts to be mannedSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1965 Last staffedRegister says still staffed in 1965; FireLookout.com says photos from 1964 and 1965 show it being staffedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. 1966 RemovedGone by 1966; Will Hite says removed by burning; Washington lookouts page says removed by burning in the mid-1960s; Oregon Hikers says torn downSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1966 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered with the Former Fire Lookout Sites Register on July 18, 2012Source: firetower.org
  10. 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.

The register and FireLookout.com both date the first Steamboat Mountain lookout to 1928, when a 14-by-14-foot cabin was built.1,2 Will Hite's page says a cathedral-style lookout was built that year.3 The Washington lookouts page instead dates a cathedral-style house to 1930, and cites a January 1931 newspaper story about a newer station built "this summer."4

In 1956 the cabin was replaced by a 20-foot treated timber tower with an R-6 flat cab.1,2,4,3 Will Hite's page says it was staffed for about ten years.3 In May 1964 the Gifford Pinchot forest supervisor said only six of the forest's 37 lookouts would be manned, and that Steamboat would be the only one in the Mt. Adams district.4

The register says the tower was still staffed in 1965.1 FireLookout.com says photos from 1964 and 1965 show it being staffed.2

Sources differ on how it came down. The register and FireLookout.com say it was gone by 1966.1,2 Will Hite's page says it was removed by burning by 1966, and the Washington lookouts page dates the burning to the mid-1960s.4,3 The Oregon Hikers guide says the tower lasted about a decade before it was torn down.5

Oregon Hikers identifies four corner blocks in the summit area as remnants of the 1956 timber tower.5 Will Hite files the mountain in the Indian Heaven Wilderness, gives the hike distance as three-quarters of a mile, and says the trail climbs 600 feet from the parking area.3 The trailhead sits at a huge quarry, reached by gravel road.3

  1. Steamboat Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/steamboat-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Steamboat Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/steamboat.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Steamboat Mountain - Indian Heaven Wilderness, Will Hite Web, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/indian_heaven_wilderness/steamboat_mountain_163.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Steamboat Mountain, Forest Lookouts (Washington), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/steamboat-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Steamboat Mountain Hike, Oregon Hikers, https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Steamboat_Mountain_Hike (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Steamboat Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1964
1964 (1964)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, 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, staffing, 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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