High Rock Fire Lookout

In 2014, at the encouragement of Rick McClure; Cowlitz Valley Ranger District archaeologist Kevin Flores and the White Pass Country Historical Society applied for a grant from the Valerie Sivinski Washington Preserves Fund. Thanks to Kevin’s work in writing the grant, we were awarded the maximum amount available.

In June of 2014, Kevin Flores, Rick McClure, Don Squires of the Historical Society and 2 members of the Sand Mountain Lookout Association of Oregon – Don Allen and Bill Joy – visited the lookout and did a detailed assessment of the work needed.

Some work was started, but due to the extreme fire situation in the summer of 2015, much of the work planned was not completed as scheduled. The Washington Trust for Historic Preservation, who administers the Valerie Sivinski Grants, has awarded a 1 year extension to the grant. The plans were then made to complete as much work as funds allow in 2016.

While some work was completed in 2016, it soon became clear that more extensive work needed to be done to preserve the building. To that end the White Pass Country Historical Society launched a “Save The Rock” campaign. An account was set up thru PayPal so to make it easier for supporters to donate the project. Meetings with the Forest Service and Sand Mountain Society were held and extensive plans to completely restore the lookout were made.

The Sand Mountain Society has been the lead on the actual reconstruction work. They have completed the management plan. In August of 2020 the remaining windows including the frames were removed from the building and the building stabilized. The windows were then placed in pack frames and removed from the site. They were then taken to be restored and will then be stored ready to be reinstalled when the time comes.

High Rock Lookout Restoration Project 2025

High Rock Lookout is a federally-owned historic property, previously determined eligible to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), located on lands administered by the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District, Gifford Pinchot National Forest, in eastern Lewis County, Washington. No longer used for administrative purposes by the agency, the lookout is currently managed by the Forest Service as a historic site in accordance with its exceptional historic values. Designed by the U.S. Forest Service and completed in 1931, the lookout was built for use as a part of a fixed-point fire detection system, a mountaintop station staffed in the summer by fire management and prevention personnel. High Rock Lookout is one of only four remaining gable roof L-4 model fire lookouts in the state of Washington, a rare and iconic example of an early standard lookout type from the Great Depression.

High Rock Lookout was last used for fire detection in 2004, and has not been used for administrative purposes by the Forest Service since that time. A combination of factors associated with the age of the structure, a lack of maintenance, extreme weather conditions, and increased vandalism, have contributed to structural failures and general physical deterioration. In order to protect and preserve historic values, and especially the physical integrity of the structure, a community-driven campaign to stabilize and restore the lookout was initiated in 2014 by the White Pass Country Historical Society, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and the Sand Mountain Society, an Oregon non-profit organization noted for historic preservation and restoration work involving fire lookouts. Bud Panco, a founding member of the White Pass Country Historical Society – the last lookout staffer at High Rock – had lobbied long and hard to save the historic structure.

The Sand Mountain Society took a lead role in planning the full-scale restoration of High Rock Lookout, and prepared a Historic Property Management Plan as directed by Forest Service management standards and guidelines. Completed in 2020, the Plan provides an architectural description of the structure, including historic context and background associated with its historical significance. The document includes a restoration plan that applies principles and methodologies of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. A multi-phased restoration of the lookout was proposed, spanning a period of four years (2020-2024). The Management Plan was reviewed and approved by Forest Service officials in 2019, and approved by the State Historic Preservation Officer in 2020. The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic delayed implementation of the Plan, but all of the windows were removed that year, carried out on pack frames, and transferred to a specialist for off-site restoration. Funded through the “Save the Rock” initiative, that work was completed in 2022, and the original lookout windows are now ready for reinstallation. 

A collaborative working group was formed in 2015 to develop plans for restoration and future use of High Rock Lookout. A condition assessment was completed that year, and some initial stabilization work completed. The White Pass Country Historical Society (Museum) took a lead role in raising funds for the restoration project through grants and donations, launching the “Save The Rock” initiative enabling on-line donations through PayPal on the Museum’s website. Early on, the Museum was awarded a grant from the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation for the project, and has subsequently been awarded grant funds from the Pacific Northwest Forest Service Association, Forest Fire Lookout Association, Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation, and the Mario and Alma Pastego Family Foundation. To date, more than $35,000.00 has been raised for the project.

In 2021 SMS volunteers were successful in operations that involved disassembly of the lookout cabin structure and the removal of architectural components to off-site locations for preservation treatment. Logistical support was provided by Ernie Strahm, whose mule team brought supplies and equipment to the lookout site. Crew members de-nailed and bundled lumber and prepared helicopter cargo loads at the site.  A Bell Jet Ranger helicopter from Northwest Helicopters, LLC, Tumwater, Washington, was hired to transport the cargo to the High Rock trailhead. From there, the lookout material was taken to the Cowlitz Valley Ranger Station in Randle.  Helicopter transport of the disassembled lookout was made possible through the Museum’s “Save the Rock” fund-raising effort, accomplishing in two hours what would have taken days or weeks with mules and horses.