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Fire lookout · Pend Oreille County, Washington

Thunder Mountain Lookout Site

Two summit lookouts on Thunder Mountain, a 1926 cupola cabin and a 1934 50-foot tower, both gone by the 1950s; footings remain; wilderness hike.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Both lookouts were removed or destroyed in the 1950s; footings remain at the north summit.

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. In the Salmo-Priest Wilderness and reached only on foot; an old, unmaintained trail leads to the summit from the Shedroof Divide, and the south-slope spur is abandoned.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
14 miles round trip from the Thunder Creek trailhead, 2,400 ft of gain. The spur up the south slope is abandoned and not maintained or signed.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerCupola cabin (1926) at the south summit and a 50-foot wooden L-4 tower (1934) at the north summitThe designs: L-4, Cupola house
Built of
Wood
Built
1926
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,560 ft (2,000 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Pend Oreille County, Washington
Coordinates
48.87679, −117.06993
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-thunder-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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

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 BuiltCupola cabin at the south summitSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1926 First staffedMark Cook; cabin struck by lightning, minor burnsSource: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1934 Built50-foot wooden L-4 tower at the north summit; the register says it replaced the cabin, Willhite says both stood until the 1950sSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  4. No record between 1934 and 2012
  5. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterFormer Fire Lookout Sites register, US 1531Source: firetower.org
  6. 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.

Thunder Mountain, in the Salmo-Priest Wilderness of Pend Oreille County, once had two lookouts on its summit, about 100 yards apart.1,2,3

The first was a cupola cabin built at the south end of the summit in 1926.1,3 In 1934 a 50-foot wooden tower with an L-4 cab went up at the north end.1,3 The register says the tower replaced the cabin, but the same entry and Willhite both describe the two standing side by side until the 1950s.1,3

Willhite names the 1926 lookout as Mark Cook, who was struck by lightning in his cabin.3 His injuries were slight, limited to burns on his hands, feet and buttocks.3 Another strike destroyed the cabin a few years later.3

Both structures were taken down or destroyed during the 1950s.1,2,3 The register and Willhite say they were removed, while FirelookOut says they were destroyed.1,2,3 A Washington lookout list marks the site as removed.4

Willhite's undated photographs show footings at both summit sites and cable anchors, and the text places the footings of the former 50-foot tower at the north summit.3 One photo caption says the south site still has a view.3

Reaching the site is a backcountry hike.1,3 Willhite lists 14 miles round trip from the Thunder Creek trailhead, with 2,400 feet of gain.3 The Shedroof Divide crosses below the mountain, and an old, unmaintained trail leads to the summit.5 Willhite warns that the south-slope spur is abandoned, with no upkeep and no signs.3

  1. Thunder Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/thunder-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Thunder Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, FirelookOut.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/thundermtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Thunder Mountain Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/thunder_mountain_lookout/tower_222.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Thunder Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/thunder-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Shedroof Divide, Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/shedroof-divide (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Thunder Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1930
1930 (1930)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, 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, 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

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