Here are a number of references that I have used to learn more about the lookouts included in this website. I have included a selected group below along with my comments. In particular some have been crucial in discovering how to access the sites that we have visited. My website is not intended to be a guidebook. It does not tell how to find the sites. The reader needs to do that on their own. Information in References #6 and #3 (especially the Geocacher reports), along with a good set of maps ,will be most useful in planning your routes.
- Fire Lookouts of the Northwest by Ray Kresek. This book was first published in 1984. The Third Revised Edition of 1998 is the standard reference on the subject. Ray includes lists of all known sites in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. He includes data on the location and history of each entry on the lists. He also includes many interesting stories about some of the lookouts and the people who manned them as well as many lookout photos. (While the book is no longer in print, one new hard cover copy was recently offered for $1038 through Amazon. The asking price from several book sellers for used copies range from $199 to $920 depending on condition and whether hard or soft cover. Of course, you also pay the shipping cost.)
- Ray Kresek has periodically updated the list of lookouts contained in his out of print book and has self-published them in his Fire lookouts of the Northwest Lookout Inventory. In 2015, he added new sites to the lists as well other new information in this latest edition of this inventory.
- The website www.firelookout.com contains Rex’s Forest Fire Lookout Page which is closely tied to Ray Kresek’s list. This website is managed by Rex Kamstra and includes the information from Ray’s list plus additional location information including Benchmark locations and Geocacher’s detailed access information for many of the lookouts.
- The second website is maintained by the Forest Fire Location Association (FFLA). This www.firelookout.org web site is similar to Rex’s. Both Ray & Rex provide many of the inputs to this one also. For those who are GPS users, the entries on this website includes the coordinates of the lookouts.
- Lookouts ~ Firewatchers of the Cascades and Olympics ~ Second Edition by Ira Spring and Byron Fish. This book was updated and published as a second edition in 1996. It includes a listing of lookout sites with data similar to Ray Kresek’s along with interesting stories about some of the lookouts. It is a good supplement to Kresek’s references for lookout sites in Western and Central Washington. It does not include any of the Eastern Washington lookouts..
- Another standard reference for Washington’s lookout chasers is the website is maintained by Eric Willhite. One of his goals is to visit and document all of the known and proposed lookout sites in the state. His website www.willhiteweb.com contains a trip report for each site he has visited. This report includes history, photos, driving directions and hiking directions for that lookout visit. Eric is a very good researcher and oral historian who has discovered the existence of lookouts that had previously escaped Ray Kresek and Spring/Fish. At the end of 2019, Eric reported his list of 775 sites which includes known, proposed and possible lookout sites. A few more have been added to the list since that time. Eric has visited more than 600 sites and is still actively looking for and visiting more. Eric was the fourth to finish the SLOW93 Challenge. This website has a section on Re-Located Lookouts. Many of Eric’s trip reports to the ORIGIN SITES for lookouts that have been moved include a discussion of the move.
- The website www.trailchick.com is maintained by Chris Estrada. Chris was the third to finish the SLOW93 Challenge. She documents her lookout visits with history, photos and directions. The website is a must for those interested in lookouts or great photos.
- Tammy McLeod has recently begun her own website featuring photos that she has taken over 25 years of lookout chasing. She includes a section of re-located lookouts. Tammy includes some of her photos of lookouts that are now gone in her website www.tammyslookouts.com.
- Hiking Washington’s Fire Lookouts by Amber Casali is a hiking guide to 44 of the Standing Lookouts which was published in 2018. It includes a bit of history as well as driving and hiking directions to her selected lookouts. A partial listing of the other Standing Lookouts and Re-Located Lookouts is also included.
- 11) & 12) Three websites which are used by the climbing and hiking community contain trip reports to some of the lookout sites. These reports often contain location directions and sometimes a bit of history. These sites are www.peakbagger.com, www.nwhiker.net and www.summitpost.org
In addition, there are two recommended memberships.
It is recommended that lookout fans join the Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA). One of their main goals is to save and renovate abandoned lookouts. Membership and signup information can be found on their website www.firelookout.org. The following is seen on that website. “Are you a Fire Lookout enthusiast, former or current lookout operator, or just love Fire Lookouts? Stay in tune with what is going on in the Fire Lookout world, meet other lookout enthuiasts, or help out with a lookout restoration project. When you join the Forest Fire Lookout Association, you can do all of this and more.”
The Private Face Book Group Fire Lookouts of Washington is a place where lookout fans post trip reports on their latest lookout visits and share information about Washington’s Lookout Sites. It has a growing membership. Their introduction reads: “Fire Lookouts of Washington is a group for people to share and post about events, hikes, statuses, or other issues related to the fire lookout towers, cabins, sites, and lookout personnel found in Washington state. Additionally, to help these towers and cabins please consider becoming a member of the Forest Fire Lookout Association. Private: Only members can see who’s in the group and see what they post.”