LOOKOUT SITE REGIONS: Both Origin and Re-Lo Site ~ South-Central WA
Not all relocated lookouts were sold to private individuals or to museums. Some were retained and moved to another location to continue in a fire-detection/fire-fighting service. The movement of the Panther Creek Lookout to Signal Peak, a Type 3 Re-Location, is a good example of this. Panther Creek’s 68’ steel tower was built in 1935 and was moved in 1964 to Signal Peak to replace the 3-legged 55’ wooden fire lookout tower there. The Panther Creek Lo site was then abandoned. The Signal Peak Lookout is still being used by the Yakama tribe during the fire season and is on the SLOW93 Challenge list.
These two lookout sites are among the most difficult to visit in the State of Washington. Both sites are located in the restricted area of the Yakama Indian Nation and access for non-tribal public is forbidden without special permission. In 2019, both at the beginning and at the end of the fire season, the Yakama Nation hosted a small group of “Lookout Fanatics” on a tour to visit both the Signal Peak and the Satus Peak Lookouts. The Yakama Fire Management hosts drove the tour participants to the two lookouts in exchange for volunteer help to open and close the Satus Peak Lookout for the season. Peggy and I participated in the November, 2019 tour. I know of no similar opportunity to gain permission to visit the abandoned Panther Creek Lookout Site.
The move from Panther Creek to Signal Peak
It was not a long move. The Signal Peak Lookout is 6 ½ miles SSE (as the crow flies) from the Panther Creek Lookout Site.
Our visit to the Signal Peak Lookout ~ Panther Creek LOs RE-LO Site, ~ 10/18/2019
A small group of lookout fans met early in a cold, dark morning at the Yakama Land Management office in White Swan. We met our Yakama host/drivers and boarded two vans to be driven to visit Signal Peak and Satus Peak, the two remaining standing lookouts on Yakama Nation lands. The drivers stopped along the way at an entry station to show the security guard the permits allowing us to enter into the restricted Yakama lands. We were driven to the Signal Peak Lookout first.
The drive initially took us through snow-free grass-lands. We travelled on a snowy road as the route began to head uphill through forested land toward Signal Peak.
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We have not visited Panther Creek LO Site ~ the ORIGIN SITE
The Panther Creek Lookout Site is also in the Yakama Nation’s restricted entrance lands and there is little likelihood that any but Yakama tribal members can receive permission to visit the site. When we were visiting Signal Peak LO, one of our Yakama hosts said that he had visited the Panther Creek Lookout Site and that the four tower foundation blocks were still in place.
