FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lewis County, Washington

West Fork Tilton Lookout Site

20-ft wooden L-4 lookout built 1934 in Gifford Pinchot NF, Lewis County WA; removed or destroyed in the 1950s. A foundation was found in 2015 on West Fork Timber land.

Permission required

You need permission from the tribe or landowner before visiting. The route crosses West Fork Timber property; Willhite advises contacting the company for permission.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The tower was removed or destroyed in the 1950s. Only a foundation has been reported at the site, reached across private timber land.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Permission required. See the warning at the top of this page.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Past the gate, go half a mile to a road that turns right, then follow it 2.2 miles.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower20-foot wooden tower with an L-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
2,423 ft (739 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Lewis County, Washington
Coordinates
46.63222, −122.24385 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-west-fork-tilton

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 3.8 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. 1934 Built20-foot wooden L-4 tower; panorama photographs taken July 14, 1934Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1942 EventActivated October 1, 1942 and deactivated June 21, 1943, under the Seattle Filter Center (washingtonlookouts list only)Source: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1950 RemovedRegister and washingtonlookouts say removed; firelookout.com and Willhite say destroyed. Sources give only the 1950s, so 1950 is a placeholder year.Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  4. No record between 1950 and 2012
  5. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered June 20, 2012 as US 1304, WA 204Source: firetower.org
  6. 2015 EventWillhite picked a dig spot by comparing 1934 photographs with Google Earth; the 2015 dig revealed a foundationSource: willhiteweb.com
  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.

The West Fork Tilton lookout stood in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, in Lewis County, Washington.1 The register lists the site as US 1304 and gives a registration date of June 20, 2012.1

The register says the lookout was built in 1934 as a 20-foot wooden L-4 tower.1 Willhite thinks something may have stood on the spot before then, but he describes the first structure as built in 1934.2 Panorama photographs were taken at the site on July 14, 1934,3 and Willhite says those pictures show a nearby shed and an outhouse.2

A washingtonlookouts listing gives an activation from October 1, 1942 to June 21, 1943, under the Seattle Filter Center.3

The register says the tower was removed in the 1950s. Firelookout.com and Willhite say it was destroyed around then, so the sources disagree on how it ended.1,4,2 The washingtonlookouts list marks it as removed.3

Willhite found the site by comparing 1934 photographs with Google Earth for several hours; it sits at a four-way road intersection.2 In 2015 he dug a spot he had picked, and it revealed a foundation. He says not much remains.2

The route runs through West Fork Timber property. Signs say no trespassing just inside the gate, and Willhite advises asking the company for permission before going in.2 None of the pages we read describes a standing structure today.1,4,2,3

  1. West Fork Tilton Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/west-fork-tilton-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. West Fork Tilton Fire Lookout - Morton Washington, WillhiteWeb (Eric Willhite), http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/west_fork_tilton/location_363.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. West Fork Tilton - Forest Lookouts, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/west-fork-tilton.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. West Fork Tilton Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/westforktilton.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

West Fork Tilton Lookout
West Fork Tilton LookoutPhoto: Eric Willhite collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
West Fork Tilton Lookout site
West Fork Tilton Lookout sitePhoto: Eric Willhite, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
West Fork Tilton Lookout panoramic 7-14-1934 (N)
West Fork Tilton Lookout panoramic 7-14-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
West Fork Tilton Lookout panoramic 7-14-1934 (SE)
West Fork Tilton Lookout panoramic 7-14-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
West Fork Tilton Lookout panoramic 7-14-1934 (SW)
West Fork Tilton Lookout panoramic 7-14-1934 (SW) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the location by 520 m.

    • FFLOS: 46.63222, −122.24385
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 46.62790, −122.24650

    The map uses the position from FFLOS.

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.