Fire lookout · Skamania County, Washington
West Twin Butte Lookout Site
Gifford Pinchot NF summit in Skamania County WA: 1923 cupola, 1935 L-4 cab, lost in 1963. Sources differ on removed, destroyed or burned; a foundation is reported.
- Gone
- Access unknown
- Verified
Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The tower and cab were lost in 1963. The sources describe a foundation at the summit.
Visit & stay
Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.
Access
Access unknown
We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.
- Road to the top?
- Unknown
- Trail
- Good gravel road to the last half mile, then 4WD. The road ends just below the high point, and the summit still needs some bushwhacking.
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a tower1923 D-6 cupola cabin, replaced in 1935 by a wooden L-4 cab on a towerThe designs: L-4, D-6
- Built of
- Not recorded
- Built
- 1923
- Height
- 12 ft (3.7 m)
- Elevation
- 4,716 ft (1,437 m)
- Agency
- U.S. Forest Service, Gifford Pinchot National Forest
- Land
- Federal land
- Location
- Skamania County, Washington
- Coordinates
- 46.11736, −121.77149
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-wa-west-twin-butte
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 4.0 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
- 1912 EventWillhite says the lookout is labeled on the 1912 Columbia National Forest map; the other sources start in 1923Source: willhiteweb.com
- 1923 BuiltCupola cabin (D-6 design per Willhite and washingtonlookouts)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
- 1935 Replaced by a new structureWooden L-4 cab. Register and firelookout.com say 15 ft; Willhite and washingtonlookouts say 12 ftSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
- No record between 1935 and 1963
- 1963 BurnedRegister says removed; firelookout.com says destroyed; Willhite and washingtonlookouts say burnedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
- No record between 1963 and 2012
- 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered July 18, 2012 as US 1352, WA 252Source: firetower.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
West Twin Butte is a peak in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, in Skamania County, Washington, at 4,716 feet.1 A lookout once stood on its summit.1,2
The first structure was a cupola cabin, built in 1923 after the forested summit was cleared.1,3,2 Willhite calls it a D-6 design.2,4 In 1935 a wooden L-4 cab replaced the cupola.1,3,2,4
The sources disagree on the height of the 1935 cab. The register and firelookout.com give 15 feet, while Willhite and the washingtonlookouts list give 12 feet.1,3,2,4 Willhite also says a 1912 Columbia National Forest map labels the lookout, eleven years before the cupola.2 The other sources start their history in 1923.1,3,4
In 1963 the tower and cab were lost. The register says the tower was removed, firelookout.com says it was destroyed, and Willhite and the washingtonlookouts list say it was burned.1,3,2,4
Willhite's photos include what he calls the lookout foundation.2 He says trees have nearly grown tall enough to block all the views.2 His access notes say the road is good gravel up to the last half mile, then needs 4WD. The road ends just below the high point, and reaching the summit still takes some bushwhacking, he says.2 None of the pages we read says whether the summit is open to visitors.1,3,2,4
- West Twin Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/west-twin-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- West Twin Butte Lookout - Mosquito Lake Station, WillhiteWeb (Eric Willhite), http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_climbing/indian_heaven_wilderness/twin_butte_lookout_164.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- West Twin Butte Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/westtwinbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Twin Butte - Forest Lookouts, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/twin-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
Photos
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
- Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) (opens another site) 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) 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
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page (opens another site) 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
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) (opens another site) Gave us: design, height, 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
- WillhiteWeb.com: Washington Fire Lookouts (opens another site) 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
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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
- FFLOS register entry US 1352 (firetower.org) (opens another site)
- FFLA Washington lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- West Twin Butte on firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra) (opens another site)
- West Twin Butte on Forest Lookouts, western US (Ron Kemnow) (opens another site)
- West Twin Butte on WillhiteWeb.com Washington Fire Lookouts (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.