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Fire lookout · Stevens County, Washington

Swede Pass Lookout Site

Also known as Swede Pass (Ryan BM)

Stevens County, WA L-4 ground-house lookout begun 1933, used by the WWII Aircraft Warning Service, removed 1952; no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1952 per FFLOS and WillhiteWeb; Firelookout.com says destroyed in the 1950s

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
About half a mile one way up a ridge, 300 ft of gain, with brush at the start

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 ground house on a concrete foundation, with a patrol point at Lookout Mountain one mile eastThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,139 ft (957 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service per FFLOS; Washington Division of Forestry per Firelookout.com
Land
Federal land
Location
Stevens County, Washington
Coordinates
48.79970, −117.93895 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-swede-pass

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 4.4 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 BuiltWork started on an L-4 ground house on a concrete foundation (FFLOS, WillhiteWeb); Firelookout.com dates the L-4 cab to 1934Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 EventNewspaper notice, May 1934: Willis Ward of Orient had just finished the lookout houseSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1941 StaffedNewspaper item places Fred Garringer on Lookout Mountain; WillhiteWeb says it is unclear which Lookout MountainSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service activation; March 7 per WillhiteWeb, March 27 per Forest LookoutsSources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1943 EventAircraft Warning Service deactivated July 1, 1943Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. 1945 FireLookouts reported a fire about 12 miles north on July 25; FFLOS and WillhiteWeb attribute it to a Japanese balloon bomb (single account, no second source found)Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1948 StaffedRobert Wallace named as lookoutSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  8. 1950 StaffedWilliam Zimmer named as lookoutSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  9. 1951 Last staffedWayne Francis named as lookout; last named in these sourcesSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  10. 1952 RemovedRemoved per FFLOS and WillhiteWebSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  11. No record between 1952 and 2010
  12. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 11, 2010; nominated by Rod FosbackSource: firetower.org
  13. 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 Swede Pass lookout stood on a ridge in Stevens County, in northeast Washington, above the Columbia River valley.1,2 It was an L-4 ground house on a concrete foundation, with a patrol point at Lookout Mountain about a mile east.1,2

Work started in 1933.2 A newspaper notice from May 1934 says Willis Ward of Orient had just finished the lookout house.3 FFLOS says it was built in 1933, while Firelookout.com dates the L-4 cab to 1934, so the sources differ by a year.1,4

Few lookout names survive. An August 1941 newspaper item says Fred Garringer was stationed on Lookout Mountain, but WillhiteWeb notes it is unclear which Lookout Mountain was meant.3,2 The later names are Robert Wallace (1948), William Zimmer (1950) and Wayne Francis (1951).2 Firelookout.com also lists Evelyn Johnson for 1945.4

During the Second World War the site served the Aircraft Warning Service.3,2 WillhiteWeb gives a start date of March 7, 1942, and Forest Lookouts gives March 27. Both say the service ended on July 1, 1943.2,3

Two lookouts at Swede Pass reported a fire roughly 12 miles north on July 25, 1945.1 FFLOS says Forest Service investigators concluded that a Japanese balloon bomb started it.1 WillhiteWeb repeats that account, but we found no second source for it.2

The lookout was removed in 1952.1,2 Firelookout.com says it was destroyed in the 1950s.4 The sources also differ on who ran it. FFLOS names the U.S. Forest Service, while Firelookout.com credits the Washington Division of Forestry.1,4

Today the route starts on dirt roads that WillhiteWeb says cars can use in dry weather. The last turn runs down a drainage, and the hike is about half a mile one way.2 WillhiteWeb's photo captions include "Bed springs" and "Cap of cab," but the page does not say where they lie.2 We found no source describing what remains at the site today, who owns the land, or whether the public may visit.

  1. Swede Pass Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/swede-pass-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Swede Pass Fire Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/swede_pass/lookout_100.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Swede Pass, Forest Lookouts (Washington), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/swede-pass.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Swede Pass Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/swedepass.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Swede Pass Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Swede Pass Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1942
1942 (1942)Photo: Elmer Fine, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the location by 1.5 km (1.0 mi).

    • FFLOS: 48.79970, −117.93895
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 48.78741, −117.94860

    The map uses the position from FFLOS.

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: 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, 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

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