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Fire lookout · Skamania County, Washington

Three Corner Rock Lookout Site

Skamania Co., WA: 1938 L-4 cab, DNR cabs in 1955 and 1973/74, last cab removed 1982; WTA describes a hike to a flattened summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The last cab was sold and removed in 1982. WTA describes a flattened summit where a lookout formerly stood, with concrete steps below it.

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. WTA describes a hike that starts from the Pacific Crest Trail. No source read reports a closure.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
WTA's shorter route is 4.2 miles round trip with about 1,200 feet of gain, starting where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Road CG 2090.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cab2-story L-4 cab (1938), then 14-by-14-foot DNR ground cabs (1955 and 1973 or 1974)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1938
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,550 ft (1,082 m)
Agency
Washington State Division of Forestry/DNR
Land
Unknown
Location
Skamania County, Washington
Coordinates
45.73243, −122.04974
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-three-corner-rock

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1934 EventPanoramic photos from the summit show a viewing post and a living cabin below.Source: willhiteweb.com
  2. 1938 Built2-story L-4 cab, the first structure on the summit, likely developed by the Columbia National Forest.Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1942 AbandonedIn February 1942 the Forest Service told the state it was abandoning the lookout house; the state said it would rehabilitate it.Source: willhiteweb.com
  4. 1948 StaffedKit Carson McCoy, per Gene Sargent's 1990s interview.Source: willhiteweb.com
  5. 1951 StaffedKay Love listed as lookout personnel.Source: firelookout.com
  6. 1955 Replaced by a new structureState 14-by-14-foot ground cabin of plywood and glass.Sources: firetower.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1969 EventThe Oregonian reported the lookout was to be discontinued because of air patrols and would most likely be burned. WillhiteWeb says the burning apparently did not happen.Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  8. 1973 Replaced by a new structureSecond identical DNR cab: 1973 per the register and Firelookout.com; 1974 per a 1974 annual report quoted by the Washington lookouts site and WillhiteWeb.Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  9. 1982 MovedCab sold and removed by a private party. WillhiteWeb says Dick Morrison placed it on his house in Friday Harbor.Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  10. No record between 1982 and 2012
  11. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered in the Former Fire Lookout Sites register on July 18, 2012.Source: firetower.org
  12. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

Three Corner Rock is a rock pinnacle in Skamania County, Washington, at about 3,550 feet.1,2 Hikers reach it from the Pacific Crest Trail.2

The earliest evidence of a lookout is a set of panoramic photographs from July 10, 1934. The summit appears to have held only a viewing post, with a living cabin below it.1 The first cab was a two-story L-4 dated 1938, which the register says was likely developed by the Columbia National Forest.3,4

In 1948, according to a 1990s interview with Gene Sargent, who was then at nearby Greenleaf, the Three Corner Rock lookout was staffed by Kit Carson McCoy. Sargent said the lookout was used only by day, and that the two slept in a small cabin below.1 Kay Love is listed as lookout personnel in 1951.4

In February 1942 the Forest Service told the state it was abandoning the lookout house. The state replied that it would rehabilitate it, and it had already acquired the land.1

In 1955 the state Division of Forestry set up a 14-by-14-foot ground cabin of plywood and glass.3,5

In August 1969 The Oregonian reported that the lookout was one of five on the district to be discontinued because air patrols were in use, and that it would most likely be burned.5 WillhiteWeb says the burning apparently did not happen, because a new cab went up in 1974.1

The register and Firelookout.com date a second, identical DNR cab to 1973. The Washington lookouts site quotes a 1974 annual report describing a new lookout built on the precipice with a little help from a helicopter, and WillhiteWeb also dates the new cab to 1974.3,4,1,5

The cab was sold and removed by a private party in 1982.3,4 WillhiteWeb names the buyer as Dick Morrison and says he placed the cab on his house in Friday Harbor. The sources do not say whether it is still there.1

Today, the Washington Trails Association says the top is now flat and that a lookout tower once stood there. Concrete steps get hikers to within 12 feet of the top, and the rest is a scramble.2 Its shorter route is 4.2 miles round trip, starting where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Road CG 2090. A gravel road leads from a nearby saddle to a microwave relay tower.2

WillhiteWeb has photos captioned as footings of the lookout, but it does not date them.1 The WTA describes it as a hike, and no source we read reports a closure.2

  1. Three Corner Rock Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/columbia_river_gorge/three_corner_rock_lookout/map_299.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Three Corner Rock, Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/three-corner-rock (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Three Corner Rock Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/three-corner-rock-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Three Corner Rock Fire Lookout Cabin, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/threecornerrock.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Three Corner Rock - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/three-corner-rock.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Three Corner Rock Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1952
1952 (1952)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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, access, 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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