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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Whitmore Mountain Lookout

Also known as Whitmore Lookout

CCC-built L-4 cab and wooden tower of 1934-35 on Whitmore Mountain, Colville Reservation; a 53-ft steel live-in tower replaced it in the 1960s and is staffed each summer.

Tribal land: permission required

This site is on tribal land. Ask the tribe for permission before visiting, and follow its rules. The steel tower is locked and sits on land granted by a private landowner. The register says you can climb the stairs to a viewing platform just below the cab, but no administrator source says whether visitors may use it. Ask the Colville Indian Reservation administrators before visiting.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Tribal land: permission required. See the warning at the top of this page.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
TrailChick describes the site as driveable, with directions that follow BIA Road 67 from Nespelem. The historic L-4 cab is about a quarter mile from the steel tower.
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 2024)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower53 ft all-steel live-in tower (built in the 1960s); the historic L-4 cab (1934) stands about a quarter mile awayThe design: L-4
Built of
Steel
Height
53 ft (16.2 m)
Elevation
3,938 ft (1,200 m)
Agency
Colville Indian Reservation
Land
Tribal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.17832, −119.24978
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-whitmore-mountain

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

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. 1934 BuiltL-4 cab built about a quarter mile northeast of the current steel lookout, per the registerSources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com
  2. 1934 EventWork camp on the mountain; lumber hauled up, poles cut and a trail builtSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1935 BuiltThree-legged 60 ft wooden tower with 7x7 ft cab built by CCC; the register gives a reported cost of $1,046 for both structuresSources: nhlr.org, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1943 StaffedTeachers hired as summer fire lookouts in the Colville national forest; Georgia Brown named on Whitmore MountainSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1943 and 1960
  6. 1960 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  7. 1960 EventInspection report calls the wooden tower badly deteriorated and unsafe; proposes a 50 ft steel tower with quarters on top, 1,200 ft south of the old siteSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1962 EventLetter suggests moving the new tower a quarter mile southwest, onto privately owned landSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. No record between 1962 and 2021
  10. 2021 FireWhitmore fire started by lightning on August 3, 2021; crews dug a hand line around the historic L-4 cab and wrapped it; both lookouts survivedSources: nhlr.org, trailchick.com
  11. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 13, 2022 as US 1565, WA 92; nominated by Christine EstradaSource: nhlr.org
  12. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Whitmore Mountain rises on the Colville Indian Reservation in Okanogan County, about 13 miles west-northwest of Nespelem.1,2 Civilian Conservation Corps crews put up the first lookout here in 1934 and 1935: an L-4 cab about a quarter mile northeast of the current steel lookout, and a three-legged, 60-foot wooden tower.2,3 The register gives a reported cost of $1,046 for both structures.2 A June 1934 newspaper item describes a camp on the mountain with lumber hauled up and a trail being built.3 Firelookout.com and a TrailChick photo caption date the wooden tower to 1938, so the early dates are disputed.1,4

In 1943 a Colville paper noted that many teachers were working as fire lookouts that summer, and it named Georgia Brown on Whitmore Mountain.3

By 1960 the wooden tower was in trouble.3 A November 1960 inspection report called it badly deteriorated and unsafe, and proposed a 50-foot steel tower with quarters on top, built 1,200 feet south of the old site.3 A 1962 letter discussed moving the new tower a quarter mile southwest, onto private land.3

The present tower is a 53-foot all-steel live-in tower, built sometime in the 1960s.2,1 The register says permission was granted by a private landowner for it.2 The L-4 cab still stands on site, though it is in very poor condition.2 The steel tower is staffed every summer.2,4

Lightning started the Whitmore fire on August 3, 2021, and it spread across much of the Whitmore area.2 Fire crews cut a hand line around the historic L-4 cab and wrapped it to protect it, and both lookouts came through.2,4

The register says the lookout is locked, but adds that you can climb the stairs to a viewing platform just below the cab.2 I found no source from the administrators on whether visitors may use it, so ask before you go up. TrailChick describes the site as driveable and gives directions that follow BIA Road 67 from Nespelem.4 The register lists the Colville Indian Reservation as administrator, and it was registered on April 13, 2022, as US 1565, WA 92.2 Ask the administrators before you visit, and do not go up the tower without their permission.

  1. Whitmore Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/whitmore.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Whitmore Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/wa/whitmore-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Whitmore Mountain, Forest Lookouts (washingtonlookouts.weebly.com), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/whitmore-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Whitmore Mountain, TrailChick, https://www.trailchick.com/wa-state-fire-lookouts/whitmore-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Whitmore Mountain Lookout - 2017
Whitmore Mountain Lookout - 2017 (2017)Photo: Christine Estrada, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
L-4 Ground cabin - 2017
L-4 Ground cabin - 2017 (2017)Photo: Christine Estrada, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
L-4 ground cabin - 1960
L-4 ground cabin - 1960 (1960)Photo: National Archive, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Three leg tower - 1938
Three leg tower - 1938 (1938)Photo: US Forest Service, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Whitmore Mtn. in 1938
Whitmore Mtn. in 1938 (1938)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Whitmore Mtn. steel tower
Whitmore Mtn. steel towerPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Whitmore Mtn. L-4 cab
Whitmore Mtn. L-4 cabPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Whitmore Mountain Lookout
Photo: TrailChick Washington lookout guide (trailchick.com) · 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 year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1960
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1938
    • TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts: 1935

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, access, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: design, height, staffing, photos, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) 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
  6. TrailChick: Washington State Fire Lookouts Gave us: photos TrailChick (trailchick.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, coordinates, elevation, lookout type, years built). The guide's text is not reproduced; its card photos are listed with credit to TrailChick, for the project's photo mirroring. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, 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.