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Fire lookout · Okanogan County, Washington

Windy Peak Lookout Site

Okanogan NF summit at 8,334 ft; 1932 gabled L-4 cab built by E.W. Allen and Raymond Johnson; 1942 AWS use; cab removed or destroyed in 1963; hiking access.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed (register, FireLookout.com) or destroyed (WillhiteWeb) in 1963. No source describes a structure standing today.

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. WillhiteWeb describes hiking routes from Long Swamp Campground and the Cathedral Driveway Trailhead, reached by good gravel roads. No closure or permit is described in these sources.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
No tower to climb; the summit is reached on foot. WillhiteWeb: the 7-mile Windy Peak Trail begins at Long Swamp Campground; the Windy Creek Trail from the Cathedral Driveway Trailhead is 5.5 miles one way.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabgabled-roofed L-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1932
Height
Unknown
Elevation
8,334 ft (2,540 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Okanogan County, Washington
Coordinates
48.92820, −119.97063
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-wa-windy-peak

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 4.1 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. 1932 BuiltGabled-roofed L-4 cab built by E.W. Allen and Raymond JohnsonSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1932 EventJuly 23, 1932 Wenatchee World item says new Forest Service short-wave sets were being installed in the Chelan forest, and names Windy Peak as a lookout station to get themSource: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1934 EventPanoramic photos taken September 18, 1934Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com
  4. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service used the lookout from July 20 to September 6, 1942 (Seattle Filter Center)Sources: washingtonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1956 EventA survey party said the lookout was soon to be demolishedSource: willhiteweb.com
  6. 1963 RemovedCab removed per the register and FireLookout.com; WillhiteWeb says destroyed that yearSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, willhiteweb.com
  7. No record between 1963 and 2012
  8. 2012 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 23, 2012 (FFLOS US 1480, WA 380)Source: firetower.org
  9. 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.

Windy Peak rises to 8,334 feet in the Okanogan National Forest, in Okanogan County, Washington.1,2

E.W. Allen and Raymond Johnson built the lookout in 1932, according to a Wenatchee paper from that August and to WillhiteWeb.3,4 It was a gabled-roofed L-4 cab.4 The register and FireLookout.com describe the same design and date.1,2

Radio equipment was also being installed that year. A July 23, 1932 item in The Wenatchee World said the Forest Service's new short-wave sets were being installed in the Chelan forest, and it named Windy Peak as one of the lookout stations to get them.3

Panoramic photos were taken from the site on September 18, 1934.1,4 The Aircraft Warning Service used the lookout briefly in 1942, from July 20 to September 6.3,4 In 1956 a survey party said the lookout would soon be demolished.4

The sources give the same year for the end but differ on the word. The register says the cab was removed in 1963, and FireLookout.com agrees on the year.1,2 WillhiteWeb says it was destroyed that year instead.4

WillhiteWeb says recent fires have swept every side of the peak, and a few stunted old trees remain near timberline.4 It also mentions an old phone line that still follows the northwest slope down to the saddle.4 None of the four sources describes what remains of the cab itself.1,2,3,4

Visitors reach the summit on foot.4 WillhiteWeb describes the 7-mile Windy Peak Trail starting at Long Swamp Campground, and a shorter Windy Creek Trail from the Cathedral Driveway Trailhead, which it lists at 5.5 miles one way.4 The gravel roads to the trailheads are described as good.4 None of the sources describes a closure or a permit for these routes.1,2,3,4

  1. Windy Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/wa/windy-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Windy Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/wa/windypeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Windy Peak, Forest Lookouts (Rex's Fire Lookout Page), https://washingtonlookouts.weebly.com/windy-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Windy Peak Trail - Pasayten Wilderness, WillhiteWeb.com, http://www.willhiteweb.com/pasayten_wilderness/windy_peak/lookout_232.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Windy Peak Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Windy Peak Lookout panoramic 9-18-1934 (N)
Windy Peak Lookout panoramic 9-18-1934 (N) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Windy Peak Lookout panoramic 9-18-1934 (SE)
Windy Peak Lookout panoramic 9-18-1934 (SE) (1934)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Windy Peak Lookout panoramic 9-18-1934 (SW)
Windy Peak Lookout panoramic 9-18-1934 (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.

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.