Fire lookout · Kittitas County, Washington
Taneum Point Lookout Site
A 1932 40-ft timber L-4 tower near Cle Elum, WA, abandoned about 1962 and gone by 1966-1975; the site is now a roadside viewpoint with a few footings.
- Gone
- Open to the public
- Verified
Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned about 1962; removed or destroyed in 1966 per two pages, destroyed by 1975 per a third
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. Viewpoint along a popular Forest Service road; no mention of the lookout at the site
- Road to the top?
- Yes, you can drive up
- Trail
- Pull off onto the spur where the lookout once stood; road is good gravel
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a tower40-foot timber L-4 tower (Willhite's 1934 panorama note gives 42 feet plus 15 feet on the cab roof)The design: L-4
- Built of
- Wood
- Built
- 1932
- Height
- 40 ft (12.2 m)
- Elevation
- 3,940 ft (1,201 m)
- Agency
- U.S. Forest Service, Wenatchee National Forest
- Land
- Federal land
- Location
- Kittitas County, Washington
- Coordinates
- 47.12145, −120.93828
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-wa-taneum-point
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 3.9 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
- 1932 BuiltBuilt as a 40-foot timber L-4 tower; Willhite gives the same yearSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
- 1934 EventPanorama photos taken August 22, 1934; Willhite records a 42-foot tower plus 15 more feet on the cab roofSource: willhiteweb.com
- No record between 1934 and 1962
- 1962 AbandonedAbandoned in 1962 per the register and Rex's page; Willhite says used until around 1962Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
- 1966 RemovedRegister says removed in 1966; Rex's page says destroyed in 1966Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
- 1975 DestroyedWillhite says destroyed by 1975; the other pages give 1966Source: willhiteweb.com
- No record between 1975 and 2012
- 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered August 15, 2012 on the Former Fire Lookout Sites registerSource: firetower.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
Taneum Point's lookout went up in 1932 as a 40-foot timber L-4 tower, about two miles south of the Peoh Point lookout on the same ridge.1,2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register added the site on August 15, 2012.1 Rex's page places it in the Wenatchee National Forest.2
Two pages say the tower was abandoned in 1962, and Willhite says it was used until about that time.1,2,3
Willhite's notes on a 1934 panorama record a 42-foot tower, plus another 15 feet at the cab roof.3 That does not match the 40 feet the other two pages give.1,2
The sources do not agree on how the tower ended. The register says it was removed in 1966, Rex's page says it was destroyed that year, and Willhite says it was destroyed by 1975.1,2,3
Willhite says the site is now a wide viewpoint beside a well-used Forest Service road, and that nothing at the site mentions the lookout.3 A few traces remain: eyebolts set in the ground that the guy lines were fastened to, and three of the concrete foundations dumped off the landing. You can find the foundations by dropping off to the west.3
Getting there starts in South Cle Elum, and the last stretch is a turn onto a spur where the lookout once stood.3 Willhite calls the road good gravel and says its upkeep suits any kind of vehicle.3 Check road conditions with the Forest Service before you go, and leave the old concrete where it lies.
- Taneum Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/taneum-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Taneum Point Fire Lookout Tower, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/taneumpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Taneum Point Lookout - Pictures & Map, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/hiking/cle_elum/taneum_point/lookout_190.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
Photos
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Sources
- Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) (opens another site) 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) 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
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page (opens another site) 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
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) (opens another site) 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
- WillhiteWeb.com: Washington Fire Lookouts (opens another site) 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
- 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
- FFLOS register entry US 1382 (firetower.org) (opens another site)
- FFLA Washington lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Taneum Point on firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra) (opens another site)
- Taneum Point on Forest Lookouts, western US (Ron Kemnow) (opens another site)
- Taneum Point on WillhiteWeb.com Washington Fire Lookouts (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.