Lookout Mountain
Location: 48.313222, -120.187500
Summit Elevation: 5,515′
Lookout Type: 14’x14′ L-4
Site Established: 1911
Current Structure Built: 1937
When all of the Methow Valley’s lookouts were once staffed, the competition for fire reporting was fierce. Lookout Mountain owns the record for the highest number of first fire reports in the Valley. Lookout mountain was repainted by volunteers in fall 2021.
History
Lookout Mountain Lookout was first established as a camp in 1911, then sometime in 1922 there was a log cabin on the summit with a lookout house. The approximate cost of material, packing, and construction was $165.00. Plans for a new lookout on the summit were announced in 1928 and the present 14′ x 14′ L-4 cab with catwalk on a 25′ timber tower was constructed in 1937. Lookout was staffed every summer until 1997.
Every fire season the lookout averaged over a dozen first reports of fires, giving it the distinction of being the lookout with the highest number of first fire reports in the Methow Valley. It was placed on standby status by the Okanogan National Forest in 1998 and remains on emergency status. It’s also listed in the National Historic Lookout Register as of November 8, 2000.
