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Fire lookout · Pend Oreille County, Washington

Sullivan Mountain Lookout

Colville National Forest tower with a 1959 R-6 cab, first lookout 1926; last used in the 1970s and now abandoned, its upper stairs removed to limit access.

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. The road is gated about half a mile below the summit, and the upper stairs are removed to limit access. No source read says whether the cab is open to visitors.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Gated road about half a mile below the summit; the last stretch is a road walk.
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2018)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 flat-roofed cab on a treated timber towerThe designs: R-6, L-4, Cupola house
Built of
Wood
Built
1926
Height
22 ft (6.7 m)
Elevation
6,483 ft (1,976 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Pend Oreille County, Washington
Coordinates
48.87769, −117.24875
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-sullivan-mountain

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 4.2 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. 1926 BuiltFirst lookout: a cupola cabinSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, trailchick.com
  2. 1935 Replaced by a new structure20-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab replaced the cupola cabinSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1935 and 1959
  4. 1959 BuiltPresent treated timber tower with R-6 flat cab; the history site gives final completion in 1960; height given as 20 or 22 feetSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, trailchick.com
  5. No record between 1959 and 2002
  6. 2002 Condition assessmentColville archaeologist called the Sullivan and Salmo Mountain towers badly deteriorated; the Forest Service must also consider removing towers before they become a hazard (AP)Source: archive.seattletimes.com
  7. No record between 2002 and 2020
  8. 2020 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered March 24, 2020 as NHLR US 1403Source: nhlr.org
  9. 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Sullivan Mountain stands in the Colville National Forest, about six miles east-northeast of Metaline Falls, on the edge of the Salmo-Priest Wilderness Area.1,2 The first lookout here was a cupola cabin, built in 1926.1,2,3 In 1935 a 20-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab replaced it.1,2,4 The present tower went up in 1959: a treated timber tower topped by an R-6 flat-roofed cab.1,2,3 Sources disagree on its height. The register and Fire Lookout say 20 feet.1,2 The Washington lookouts history site says 22 feet, and TrailChick gives both figures.3,4 The history site also says final completion came in 1960.4 Fire Lookout lists Laurence Davies among its known lookout personnel for 1959.2

The register added Sullivan Mountain on March 24, 2020.1 The tower was last used in the 1970s and is now abandoned.1,2,3 In 2002 a Colville National Forest archaeologist called the Sullivan and Salmo Mountain towers badly deteriorated.5 An Associated Press report that year said the Forest Service must also consider removing towers before they become a hazard.5

The upper stairs have been removed to limit access and deter vandalism.1,3 The road is gated about half a mile below the summit, and TrailChick describes the last stretch as an easy short road walk.3 TrailChick, which visited in September 2018, calls the road one of the highest in Washington, recommends high-clearance four-wheel drive, and found the summit views worth the trip.3

We found no source describing a rental or a volunteer staffing program for this tower.

  1. Sullivan Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/sullivan-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Sullivan Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Fire Lookout, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/sullivan.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Sullivan Mountain, TrailChick, https://trailchick.com/wa-state-fire-lookouts/sullivan-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Sullivan Mountain - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Washington Forest Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/sullivan-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Dim outlook for lookout towers, The Seattle Times (Associated Press), https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20020404/lookout04m/dim-outlook-for-lookout-towers (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

August 2018 photo
August 2018 photo (2018)Photo: Jarred Roberg, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
July 2019 photo
July 2019 photo (2019)Photo: Nicholas F. Muto, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Sullivan Mtn. in 1931
Sullivan Mtn. in 1931 (1931)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Dave Bula collection, John Sherrod, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Aerial photo of Sullivan Mtn.
Aerial photo of Sullivan MtnPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum, Dave Bula collection, John Sherrod, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Sullivan Mtn. about 1935
Sullivan Mtn. about 1935 (1935)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Dave Bula collection, John Sherrod, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Sullivan Mtn. in 1958
Sullivan Mtn. in 1958 (1958)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Dave Bula collection, John Sherrod, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Sullivan Mtn. in 1999
Sullivan Mtn. in 1999 (1999)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Dave Bula collection, John Sherrod, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Sullivan Mtn. in 2012
Sullivan Mtn. in 2012 (2012)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, Dave Bula collection, John Sherrod, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Sullivan Mountain Lookout
Photo: TrailChick Washington lookout guide (trailchick.com) · 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. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: photos, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. 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
  6. TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts Gave us: photos, links TrailChick (trailchick.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, coordinates, elevation, lookout type, years built). The guide's text is not reproduced; its card photos are listed with credit to TrailChick, for the project's photo mirroring. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  7. 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
  8. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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

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