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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

War Creek Ridge Lookout Site

L-4 cab built 1940 on War Creek Ridge in Okanogan County; used by the AWS in 1942, abandoned in the 1950s and now gone, with one footing left at the site.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned in the 1950s and gone; a 2020 visit recorded one footing of rock and concrete

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. Within Okanogan National Forest and reached on foot; no structure to visit. The seasonal gate on the access road was closed in June 2020.

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Drive from Twisp west on Twisp River Road to War Creek Campground, then hike. The old ridge trail is fading; the 2020 visitor suggested going off trail up the hillside.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1940
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,080 ft (1,853 m)
Agency
Okanogan National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.36810, −120.45837
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-war-creek-ridge

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. 1940 BuiltL-4 cabSources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1942 StaffedUsed by the AWS to spot enemy aircraft in spring and summer; activated March 29 and deactivated September 19, 1942; winter use at the War Creek Guard StationSources: willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1950 AbandonedAbandoned in the 1950s (the sources give the decade only)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1950 and 2012
  5. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: November 23, 2012Source: FFLOS register entry
  6. 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.

The War Creek Ridge lookout was an L-4 cab, built in 1940 in Okanogan County.1,2 The site sits at 6,080 feet.1

In 1942 the AWS, a wartime service that watched for enemy aircraft, used the ridge through the spring and summer.2 Its official dates ran from March 29 to September 19, 1942.3 In winter the service worked from the War Creek Guard Station on the valley floor.2

The cab was abandoned during the 1950s and no longer stands.1,4

A 2020 visit recorded one footing of rock and concrete at the site.2

Getting there is a hike. The route begins in Twisp, where a westbound drive along Twisp River Road ends at War Creek Campground.2 The old War Creek Ridge trail is wearing away fast, with tread visible only in places, and the 2020 visitor recommended leaving the trail to climb the slope until reaching the main ridge.2 The first half mile climbs a steep slope through burned forest, where brush grew up after the 2018 Crescent Mountain Fire.2 Insulators and a phone line can be seen along the full ridge route.2

The site lies in the Okanogan National Forest, and a seasonal gate on the road was closed in June 2020.4,2 No cab survives to climb, so a visit means a walk to the ridge and its old footing.1,2

  1. War Creek Ridge Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org), http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/war-creek-ridge-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. War Creek Ridge Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://willhiteweb.com/fire_lookouts/war_creek_ridge/lookout_site_120.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. War Creek Ridge - Forest Lookouts, Rex's Fire Lookout Page (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/war-creek-ridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. War Creek Ridge Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/warcreekridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of War Creek Ridge Lookout Site
Photo: 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, 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.