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Fire lookout · Ferry County, Washington

White Mountain Lookout Site

Ferry County, WA summit cupola cabin; build year disputed (1919/1922/1923); removed 1950; FFLOS-registered 2012; WTA describes lookout remains at the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cupola cabin removed in 1950 (firelookout.com says destroyed); WTA describes remains of an old fire lookout at the southern end of the summit

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. Summit reached by a hiking route described by WTA; the page gives no closure or permit rules. Level inferred from the route description, so confirm with the Forest Service

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Reached from the Kettle Crest route by a spur trail; WTA describes the round trip as 28 miles

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabCupola cabin on the summitThe design: Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1923
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,921 ft (2,110 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Ferry County, Washington
Coordinates
48.51148, −118.45342
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-white-mountain

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. 1923 BuiltCompleted by July 1, 1923 per a September 1923 report. Register gives 1919, firelookout.com 1922, and a register photo caption says under construction 1922Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  2. 1923 First staffedUsed as a lookout for the first time in 1923; H.P. Hasler is listed as lookout personnel that yearSources: firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  3. 1928 StaffedRalph Buckley was the lookoutSource: willhiteweb.com
  4. 1929 StaffedS.B. Hayward listed as lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1929 and 1944
  6. 1944 StaffedMr. and Mrs. Chas. Bouk of Republic were the lookoutSource: willhiteweb.com
  7. 1945 StaffedHomer Therleen listed as lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  8. 1950 RemovedCupola cabin removed; firelookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  9. No record between 1950 and 2012
  10. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 23, 2012; nominated by Ray KresekSource: 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

White Mountain rises to 6,921 feet in Ferry County, Washington, on the Colville National Forest.1,2 Its summit lookout was a cupola cabin, and the sources disagree about when it went up.1,2,3 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register gives 1919.1 A photo caption on the same page reads "White Mountain Lookout- under construction 1922," and firelookout.com dates the cabin to 1922.1,2 A Spokane newspaper reported in April 1923 that rangers were framing lumber for a standard lookout station on the summit.3 A September 1923 report said the house was finished by July 1 and first served as a lookout that year.3

Early lookouts included H.P. Hasler in 1923, Ralph Buckley in 1928, S.B. Hayward in 1929, Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Bouk of Republic in 1944, and Homer Therleen in 1945.2,3

The cupola cabin was removed in 1950.1,3 One list, firelookout.com, says it was destroyed that year instead.2

A Washington Trails Association route description places the old lookout's remains at the south end of the summit.4 The association's hike, White Mountain via Kettle Crest Trail South, is a 28-mile round trip and says a spur trail leads to the summit.4 The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists the White Mountain site as a ground site that is gone.5 Check with the Forest Service about current conditions before you go.

  1. White Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/white-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. White Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/whitemtn.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. White Mountain Fire Lookout Site, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/washington_fire_lookouts/white_mountain/lookout_106.htm (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. White Mountain via Kettle Crest Trail South, Washington Trails Association, https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/white-mountain (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  5. Washington Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/wa/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

White Mountain Lookout- under construction 1922
White Mountain Lookout- under construction 1922 (1922)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
White Mountain Lookout- under construction 1922
White Mountain Lookout- under construction 1922 (1922)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via 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, 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. 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.