Timber Mountain Fire Lookout Site

The Timber Mountain Lookout was developed about 1932 with a 50 foot pole tower topped with an L-4 cab. A second tower, currently standing, was built in 1959, a 41 foot treated timber tower with R-6 flat live-in cab and catwalk.. This last tower was staffed until 1981 but has been used intermittently as a vantage point after thunderstorms come through the region. During the mid-1990s, it was partially restored by the Colville National Forest & Pend Oreille Anthropological Society as a "Passport in Time” project. The tower is on the National Historic Lookout Register. During the summer of 2007, lightning protection and reroofing were done in preparation for the rental program.
In 2017, five days were spent cleaning the inside of the cab, replacing the plywood subfloor, replacing and repairing catwalk boards and railings, repairing concrete piers, properly tensioning guy lines, and scraping and painting the cab inside and out. The Colville NF crew, led by Archaeologist Stuart Chilvers, and volunteers, that included Ron Marvin, C. Rod Bacon and Rod Fosback. The only thing still needed was replacing the stolen copper lightning protection.

Several possibilities exist but most will use the Tacoma Creek Road, accessed from Highway 20, north of Cusick. This mainline gravel road is in great condition with mileage signs every mile. There are many side roads but stick to the mainline. Use map below to guide but markers at the final intersections seem to be missing. The last quarter mile of road is really bad just before the gate but plenty of parking exists at the last big intersection

The new gate is locked all year, so a 2.1 mile hike is required. Just follow the road, there are no major side roads to get confused. So far, access to the catwalk is allowed. Without access, views would be limited due to the tall trees.

Timber Mountain Lookout Site