Aldrich Butte Fire Lookout - North Bonneville WA

One of the lower but quite prominent points along the Columbia River Gorge is Aldrich Butte, a very interesting and historic summit. It was likely named for Marion M. Aldrich who acquired 155 acres in 1906 on the northeast slopes of Aldrich Butte. The summit was first benchmarked in 1901 with a standard bronze disk. According to the Lookout Inventory, in 1930, Aldrich Butt had a 15 foot high wooden live-in cab. This seems unlikely since in 1938, a survey party made no reference to a lookout building. Also, the panoramic images taken on July 7, 1941 appear to be taken just 4 feet above ground. Finally, USGS maps don’t show a lookout prior to 1942.

For sure we know that in 1942, when a road was constructed to the summit, a 10 foot wooden tower and L-4 cab was built (according to the lookout inventory). Also, late in 1942 the lookout was used by the Aircraft Warning Service, activated October 7, 1942 and deactivated October 16, 1943. AWS documents say a garage was built with AWS funds. In 1957, a survey party said the Forest Service Lookout house is now over the station mark, and the mark is centered directly under the structure. They said the lookout house was a wooden structure, 15 feet square at the ground, and the floor of the house is about 10 ft above the ground. This structure was destroyed or removed in 1967. Just below the lookout site, in the parking area (and garage location), there are at least 12 concrete blocks used for parking barriers. It appears this was a popular place for tourists to visit after the war. One online source says that some commercial outfits charged a quarter a head for a trip to the top and back. It should also be mentioned that there is an Aldrich Butte Lookout in Grant County, Oregon that gets confused with this one.

There are multiple sources online suggesting this was a U.S. military constructed defense post during World War II to watch over the Bonneville Dam below. It suggests the large obelisk was likely a gun mount, matching one at the tip of Wauua Viewpoint on the other side of the gorge that also overlooks the dam. The obelisk does seem out of place but I tend to doubt the defense post idea and believe this was just a standard AWS post based on the documents I've seen. Maybe the obelisk was used for survey purposes from the dam and there needed to be something a bit move visible on the summit than the standard benchmark.

The only official route would be from the PCT via the Bonneville Trailhead in North Bonneville (11 miles out and back).

At one time, there was a trail (Dick Thomas Trailhead) from the Bonneville Hot Springs Resort (3.2 miles RT) but this facility is now a fancy drug and alcohol treatment facility. At this time, they are not allowing the previous option of going to the front desk and paying for daily parking.

The oldest route crosses some private land and is posted, although no gates exist between the signs and the public land. The private property sign is at the end of the pavement. I do not know if the Forest Service has a public easement for the half mile over private property. I was contacted by one of the private property owners after making this page and he says nobody should be going past the bridge at the end of the pavement. He threatened prosecution for trespassing if they cross the bridge onto the private property. So, just avoid any route from the south and hike in via the PCT for an enjoyable trip.