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Fire lookout · King County, Washington

Tiger Mountain Lookout Site

East Tiger Mountain's 83-foot L-4 lookout (1945) was removed or destroyed in 1967; the paved summit has communication towers (per an undated page) and a bike loop.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed or destroyed in 1967; per an undated page, communication towers stand on the 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. State forest with a paved road to the summit; parking by the highway, and a lot two minutes up the left road for hikers.

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Paved road from Highway 18 to Tiger Summit. Willhite lists a 4-mile hike with 1,600 ft of gain.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower83-foot treated timber tower with a 14 x 14 L-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1945
Height
83 ft (25.3 m)
Elevation
3,004 ft (916 m)
Agency
Washington Division of Forestry/DNR
Land
State land
Location
King County, Washington
Coordinates
47.48809, −121.94696
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-tiger-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 4.1 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. 1945 Built83-foot treated timber L-4 tower, 14 x 14 cabSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1945 and 1961
  3. 1961 StaffedArlene Brandal, lookout (Willhite)Source: willhiteweb.com
  4. 1967 RemovedRegister says removed; FirelookOut and Willhite say destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1967 and 2012
  6. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterFormer Fire Lookout Sites register, US 1302Source: firetower.org
  7. 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.

East Tiger Mountain, the highest point in Tiger Mountain State Forest in King County, carried a fire lookout tower from 1945 until 1967.1,2,3

The Washington Division of Forestry/DNR is the administrator the register lists.1 The tower was 83 feet tall, a treated timber structure with a 14-by-14 L-4 cab.1,3 The register and FirelookOut both give the 83-foot height, and a 1945 state forestry report quoted on WashingtonLookouts describes the same tower.1,2,3,4

Arlene Brandal is named as a lookout here in 1961.3

The register says the tower was removed in 1967. FirelookOut and Willhite say it was destroyed that year.1,2,3

Willhite's undated page says communication towers dot the summit and that it is no longer much of a hiking destination.3 He adds that the summit sits on a loop trip popular with mountain bikers.3 No source describes any remains of the lookout itself.

Access is paved.3 Willhite's directions run from Highway 18 to Tiger Summit, and he lists the hike as 4 miles with 1,600 feet of gain.3 Bikers, and anyone without a Discover Pass, should start at the lot beside the highway.3 Hikers can use a lot two minutes up the left road.3

  1. Tiger Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/tiger-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Tiger Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, FirelookOut.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/tigermtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. East Tiger Mountain - Fire Lookout History, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/east_tiger_mountain/tower_389.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Tiger Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Washington Lookouts, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/tiger-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Tiger Mountain Lookout
Tiger Mountain LookoutPhoto: Eric Willhite collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Tiger Mountain Lookout
Tiger Mountain LookoutPhoto: Eric Willhite collection - Arlene Brandal, via 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: height, ownership, 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, 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.