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Fire lookout · Ferry County, Washington

Thirteenmile Mountain Lookout Site

Also known as Thirteenmile

Ferry County camp in 1929, then a 10-foot pole L-5 tower built 1935; used by the AWS in 1942; gone by the 1940s (sources split removed vs destroyed); no current site description.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower and cab gone by the 1940s; FFLOS says removed and Willhite says destroyed; no source describes the site today

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

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower10-foot pole tower with an L-5 cabThe design: L-5
Built of
Wood
Built
1935
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
4,886 ft (1,489 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Ferry County, Washington
Coordinates
48.50873, −118.64241
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-thirteenmile-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 4.0 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. 1929 EventSite used as a camp before the towerSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 EventPanoramic photos taken September 26 show lumber ready for the cabSource: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1935 Built10-foot pole tower with L-5 cab built, replacing the campSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1942 StaffedUsed by the AWS; activated March 27 and deactivated May 9Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1945 EventSurvey party found the lookout still standingSource: willhiteweb.com
  6. 1946 Destroyedfirelookout.com and Willhite say destroyed in the 1940s; the year is a placeholder after the 1945 surveySources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. 1946 RemovedFFLOS and Washington Lookouts say removed in the 1940s; the year is a placeholder after the 1945 surveySources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1946 and 2012
  9. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: November 23, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  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.

Thirteenmile Mountain sits in Ferry County, in the Colville National Forest, about 10 miles south-southeast of Republic.1,2 In 1929 the site was a camp.3 Panoramic photos from September 26, 1934 show lumber ready for building the cab.3

In 1935 a 10-foot pole tower with an L-5 cab replaced the camp.1,3 The 1934 panoramas call the ridge Thirteen Mile Ridge, not mountain.3 A 1936 survey party described the top as bare and grassy, and locals called it Thirteen Mile Mountain.3

In 1942 the lookout was used by the AWS, from March 27 to May 9.4,3 In 1945 a survey party found it still standing.3

Later in the 1940s the tower and cab came down.1,3 The FFLOS entry says removed, while firelookout.com and Willhite say destroyed.1,2,3

None of the sources cited here says what, if anything, is left on the summit today or how to reach it.

  1. Thirteenmile Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/thirteenmile-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Thirteenmile Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/thirteenmile.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Thirteenmile Mountain Fire Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/thirteenmile_mountain/lookout_102.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Thirteenmile, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/thirteenmile.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Thirteenmile Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-26-1934 (N)
Thirteenmile Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-26-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Thirteenmile Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-26-1934 (SE)
Thirteenmile Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-26-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Thirteenmile Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-26-1934 (SW)
Thirteenmile Mountain Lookout panoramic 9-26-1934 (SW) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via 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, 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, 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.