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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Strawberry Mountain Lookout Site (Okanogan NF)

Also known as Strawberry Mountain (Ok NF), Strawberry Mtn.

40-foot pole lookout in the Okanogan NF built 1934, shortened to 10 feet in 1954 for training, gone after 1963; a trip report shows two footings.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed or burned in 1963; a trip report shows footings

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Trail from Lost Lake, just under a mile each way with about 650 feet of climb; a road crosses the trail at 4,100 feet, where roadside parking is possible.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower40-foot pole tower with an L-5 cab; shortened to 10 feet in 1954 and used to train lookoutsThe design: L-5
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
4,742 ft (1,445 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.84100, −119.03500
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-strawberry-mountain-okanogan-nf

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 4.3 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. 1934 Built40-foot pole tower with an L-5 cab; a 1934 newspaper report describes a road to itSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1942 EventUsed for aircraft detection during the war, August 21, 1942 to July 1, 1943Source: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1954 AlteredShortened to 10 feet and used for training lookoutsSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1963 BurnedBurned or destroyed in 1963 per firelookout.com and the trip report; the register says removedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1963 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 23, 2012 as US 1470, WA 370; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  7. 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 Strawberry Mountain lookout stood in Okanogan County, Washington, in the Okanogan National Forest at 4,742 feet.1,2 Willhite notes there were two Strawberry Mountains with lookouts in the county.3 This one lies a few miles northeast of Mount Bonaparte, between Lost Lake and Bonaparte Lake.3 One list places it in the Colville National Forest, but the register, firelookout.com and the trip report all say Okanogan.1,2,3,4

A 1934 newspaper report described an emergency tower under construction, with a road to it.3,4 The register describes a 40-foot pole tower and L-5 cabin living quarters, built that year.1,3

During the war the site was used for aircraft detection, from August 21, 1942 to July 1, 1943.3

In 1954 the tower was shortened to 10 feet and used to train lookouts.1,3

The register says the tower was removed in 1963. Firelookout.com and the trip report say it was destroyed or burned that year.1,2,3

The trip report does not give a date in the text we read. It shows two footings at the site, with a third almost buried.3 We found no source that describes a standing structure. The route starts at Lost Lake, a hike of just under a mile each way with about 650 feet of climb.3 Most sources name the land as Okanogan National Forest, and none we read mentions a closure, but we found no official access rule, so check with the forest before you go.1,2,3,4

  1. Strawberry Mountain Lookout Site (Okanogan NF), Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/strawberry-mountain-lookout-site-okanogan-nf/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Strawberry Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/strawberrymtnok.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Strawberry Mountain Fire Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb, https://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/strawberry_mountain/tower_078.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Strawberry Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/strawberry-mountain1.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Strawberry Mountain Lookout Site (Okanogan NF)
Photo: 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, 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, 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.