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Fire lookout · Chelan County, Washington

Tiptop Lookout Site

Wenatchee NF summit in Chelan County, WA; a 1914 camp lookout, a 1925 D-6 cabin, an 18-ft L-4 tower (1948) gone by 1967; footings still visible per captions.

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. Ruby Creek FS Road 7404 from Highway 97, then an old road bed under a mile to the summit; no closure appears in these sources

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Follow Ruby Creek FS Road 7404 to its end, then the old road bed (under a mile). A road near the top can be walked for the last stretch.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerD-6 cupola cabin (finished 1925), replaced in 1948 by an 18-foot tower with an L-4 cabThe designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1925
Height
18 ft (5.5 m)
Elevation
4,766 ft (1,453 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Chelan County, Washington
Coordinates
47.44032, −120.60854
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-tiptop

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 3.9 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. 1914 EventCamp lookout developed; one of four original sites testing heliograph signalingSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1921 EventForest Service building a telephone line from the lookout to the Leavenworth forest officeSource: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1925 BuiltD-6 cupola cabin finished (FireLookout.com dates it to 1924)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1930 FirePilot spotted fires on Polollie Ridge and Waptus Lake and dropped a note at the lookout; reports phoned to a ranger and crews sent inSource: willhiteweb.com
  5. No record between 1930 and 1948
  6. 1948 Replaced by a new structureCupola cabin replaced by an 18-foot tower with an L-4 cabSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1948 and 1967
  8. 1967 RemovedTower removed per the FFLOS register; FireLookout.com says destroyed; Willhite says it lasted until 1967Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  9. No record between 1967 and 2012
  10. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 9, 2012 as US 1428, WA 328Source: firetower.org
  11. 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.

Tiptop Mountain sits in the Wenatchee National Forest, in Chelan County, about 11 miles south-southeast of Leavenworth.1,2

The site began in 1914 as a camp lookout.1,2,3 It was one of four original sites in the area that tested heliograph signaling, and Willhite says fires seen from it were relayed to Tumwater Mountain, which had a phone line to the ranger station in Leavenworth.3 A D-6 cupola cabin was finished in 1925, although FireLookout.com dates the cabin to 1924.1,2,3 In 1921 the Forest Service was building a telephone line from the lookout to its Leavenworth office, so that fire locations could reach crews quickly.3

In 1930 a pilot spotted fires on Polollie Ridge and Waptus Lake and dropped a note at the lookout.3 The reports were then phoned to a ranger, and crews were sent in before the blaze spread.3

Willhite names Dan Shaser as the lookout in 1920, and FireLookout.com's list runs to James Huntsperger in 1965.2,3 The lists do not agree in every year.2,3 FireLookout.com names Leonard Webb for 1950, while Willhite names Mr. and Mrs. Don Fife for that season.2,3

In 1948 an 18-foot tower with an L-4 cab replaced the cupola cabin, and it stood until 1967.1,2,3 The register says the tower was removed that year.1 FireLookout.com says it was destroyed.2

Willhite's photo captions show footings still in place, one of them down the hillside. They also show a garbage pit and a toilet hole below the summit.3 The sources do not describe anything else left on the summit.1,2,3

Willhite's route starts on Highway 97 and turns onto Ruby Creek Forest Service Road 7404. From the end of that road, an old road bed leads toward the summit, which is under a mile away.3 A road near the top can be walked for the final stretch.3

  1. Tiptop Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/tiptop-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Tiptop Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/tiptop.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Tiptop Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, https://willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/tiptop/blewett_295.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Tiptop Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1915
1915 (1915)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, 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, agency, access, staffing, 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.