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Fire lookout · Yakima County, Washington

Timberwolf Lookout Site

Also known as Timberwolf Mountain

Wenatchee NF summit in Yakima County, WA; an L-4 cab built in 1931 and removed or destroyed in 1975; the summit is still reached by road.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

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. Willhite says any vehicle with clearance can drive to the summit; where the road gets rough, visitors park and walk. No closure appears in these sources.

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Willhite lists the hiking distance as drive-up or a 2-mile hike. There is no tower to climb.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cab resting on the groundThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,391 ft (1,948 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Yakima County, Washington
Coordinates
46.76586, −121.14559
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-timberwolf

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 4.3 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. 1931 BuiltL-4 cab built on the summit, resting on the groundSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1934 EventPanoramic photos taken from the cab's roof; vehicle access existed then and timber was cut to open the north view. One page dates the photos to July 17.Sources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1938 EventUSGS placed a benchmark (TIMBERWOLF MTN LOH); the USGS visited again in 1966 to reference the lookoutSource: willhiteweb.com
  4. No record between 1938 and 1975
  5. 1975 RemovedCab removed per the FFLOS register and Willhite; FireLookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  6. No record between 1975 and 1991
  7. 1991 EventA new benchmark placed at the siteSource: willhiteweb.com
  8. No record between 1991 and 2010
  9. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 13, 2010 as US 627, WA 11Source: firetower.org
  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.

Timberwolf Mountain sits in the Wenatchee National Forest, in Yakima County, Washington.1,2 A lookout cab went up there in 1931.1,2,3 The register calls it an L-4 cab, one of many lookouts built along the Cascades' east side to guard against fire.1 Willhite's account adds that the cab rested on the ground.3

Panoramic photos were taken from the cab's roof in 1934, and one page dates them to July 17 that year.3,4 At that time vehicles could reach the top, and a good deal of timber had to be cut to open the view north.3 The USGS placed a benchmark in 1938 and visited again in 1966 to reference the lookout.3 A new benchmark went in 1991.3

The cab came off the mountain in 1975, and the sources do not agree on how.1,2,3 The register and Willhite say it was removed, while FireLookout.com says it was destroyed.1,2,3

The summit is still reachable by road.3 Willhite says a vehicle with enough clearance can drive to the top, and a rough stretch can be walked instead.3 Photo captions on that page show an outhouse still there in 2020, a parking area at the summit, and a Timberwolf Lookout sign photographed in 2020.3 The register's photos show Mount Rainier in the distance from the site.1 None of the four sources describes footings or a foundation for the cab itself.1,2,3,4

  1. Timberwolf Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/timberwolf-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Timberwolf Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/timberwolf.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Timberwolf Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/timberwolf_lookout/fire_tower_050.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Timberwolf Mountain, Forest Lookouts (Rex's Fire Lookout Page), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/timberwolf-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Timberwolf Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
U.S. Forest Service sign
U.S. Forest Service signPhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Timberwolf site with Mount Rainier in the distance
Timberwolf site with Mount Rainier in the distancePhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Timberwolf Lookout 1957
Timberwolf Lookout 1957 (1957)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection - Tom Bigley photo, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Timberwolf Lookout 1957
Timberwolf Lookout 1957 (1957)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection - Tom Bigley photo, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Timberwolf Lookout (no date)
Timberwolf Lookout (no date)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, 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, 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.