Pilchuck Mountain / Fire Lookout, Snow-covered trail (snowshoe)

Pilchuck Mountain / Fire Lookout

Hidden Lake Peak / Fire Lookout (summer & overnights)

Fire Lookouts of Washington

While I lived in Washington, I tried to visit as many of the remaining standing fire lookouts scattered about the mountain ranges of Washington as I could. Click the following link to go to my webpage on fire lookout structures of Washington, which gives a bit of history of fire lookouts as well as a complete listing of the remaining standing lookout structures in the state.

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Trip Report

THIS TRIP REPORT IS STILL MOSTLY IN THE EMBEDDED HTML FORMAT OF MY OLD WEBSITE.

Cloudy view from the deck of the Mount Pilchuck Lookout (panorama stitched together from 5 photographs).

General Overview

The Route

Road and trailhead:
From the Verlot Public Service Center (11 miles east of Granite Falls), travel east on the Mountain Loop Highway 1.0 mile. Turn right (south) on the Pilchuck Road #42 and continue for 6.9 miles to the trailhead (elev. 3,100 ft).

Trail:
It's about 3 miles and 2,200 ft from the trailhead to the Mount Pilchuck Lookout. This trail travels through an old-growth forest and follows along the edge of an area clear-cut (for an old ski area) by Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1977. The trail continues on eventually ending on exposed rocky areas that are easily traveled except when icy conditions exist.

In the summer, getting to the lookout is a quick and easy trail hike, but in the winter getting to the lookout requires skiing or snowshoeing, often part of the way up the Pilchuck Road too. Depending on how much snow there is, you can head up through trees where the summer trail is, or ascend the old ski area slopes just east of this (more avalanche prone).

The Lookout

Mount Pilchuck Lookout (elev. 5324 ft) has been a U.S. Forest Service lookout since 1921. The present wooden L4 14x14' groundhouse was built in 1943 and staffed until 1957. The site was transferred to the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and in 1989 that agency cooperated in a reconstruction of the lookout by the Everett Branch of The Mountaineers. Reached only by trail, it is used as an interpretive site. This lookout is available for public use on a first-come, first-served basis. Besides for some benches, it is not furnished.

The views

The 5,324-foot summit has tremendous views of the Cascades, Olympics, and Puget Sound. If not obscured by clouds, you can see Mt Baker to the north; Three Fingers, White Chuck, and Glacier Peak to the East; Mt Rainier to the South; and several peaks on the Olympic Peninsula to the West.

My Photo Trip Report from a Winter Trip to the Lookout

	The Lookout on top of Mount Pilchuck.
	The outer deck of the Lookout.
	Some rime on the lookout. Can only imagine what kind of weather this place gets during a rough winter storm!
	Another photo of the outer deck, black and white.
	Warming up with some hot chocolate inside the lookout (basically just a seating area inside, with some interesting historical photos and articles around the edges).
	The summit area to the north of the lookout. We didn't see any peaks because of the clouds, but the fog and clouds gave some nice wintertime photos.
	Two trees (black and white and color versions).
	Rime on icicles.
	More cool ice formations.
	Snowy pine cones.

Comments Pertaining to this Page / Trip Report

Useful beta. Updated route information. Corrections. Historical notes. Interesting facts. No fluff please.