[lat_lon_dms latitude="51.06587" longitude="-118.54267"]

Eagle Pass Fire Lookout

Columbia-Shuswap, BC

·

D-6

·

Unknown Status

·

Elev. 2280 m

·

Nominated by

Overview

Eagle Pass Mountain lookout was built in 1921 by the Dominion Forestry Branch, which administered the forest lands in BC’s Railway Belt.  It was the first of four 12 x 12-foot cabins, built of mortared stone and topped by a pyramidal hip roof, built by the Branch in the mountains between Sicamous and Revelstoke.  And it was a significant undertaking, involving the construction of 13 miles (21 km) of trail suitable for pack horses (at a cost of $1791) and telephone line ($2254), the lookout cabin ($1380), and an overnight cabin halfway along the trail ($210).

Senior Fire Ranger John “Jack” Mizon of Malakwa located the trail, the lower half of which followed old logging rail grades up Crazy Creek valley from the village of Taft; he also oversaw the construction of the lookout.  His son Christopher was hired to pack supplies, being paid $1.10 per day for his horse plus 10 cents for shoeing it.

Eagle Pass Mountain lookout opened on top of the prominent 7700-foot (2311 m) peak in 1922.  J. H. “Jack” Aubrey is said to be the first lookout man; certainly he is known to have occupied the lookout between 1924 and 28, earning $120 per month.  The lookout was active until 1931; closed by the impacts of the Great Depression, it never re-opened.  The vacant cabin stood proud until its roof was swept away by heavy snow sometime before 1975, leaving only the 4-foot-high lower walls.

The ruins were visited by a growing number of visitors that hiked or sledded the old pack trail, until in 2016 two local outdoor enthusiasts built a new shelter on top of the stone walls, believing that they had received verbal permission from the Ministry of Forests Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRORD). But in a controversial decision, the Ministry issued a stop-work order on the nearly completed structure and fined one of the two men $20,000.  After Rec Sites and Trails BC (the agency that administers the trail and lookout site) convened a working group to consider all options for the lookout site and the illegal structure, it made the (again controversial) decision to dismantle the new cabin, which is scheduled for summer 2022.

Field Notes

  • Lookout Type

D-6

  • Tower Status

Unspecified

  • Registry ID

13026

  • Build Date

Unspecified

  • Elevation

2280 m

  • Access

4x4

Geodata & Coordinates

Note: Coordinates listed on this site are intended as a guideline only. Locations are based on the best available information but may not be exact. Terrain changes, historical shifts, and data errors can affect accuracy — always verify before visiting or navigating to a site.

  • Lat / Long

51.06587, -118.54267

  • DMS

51°3.952′N · 118°32.560′W

  • What3Words
  • what3words
  • UTM
11 391908 5658282 Copied!
  • Plus Code
5933F348+W8
  • Geohash
c35dw2rb7

Sources & Contributors

Trip Reports

There are no results matching your search

Discussion

Eagle Pass Fire Lookout

Columbia-Shuswap, BC

·

D-6

·

Unknown Status

·

Elev. 2280 m

Overview

Eagle Pass Mountain lookout was built in 1921 by the Dominion Forestry Branch, which administered the forest lands in BC’s Railway Belt.  It was the first of four 12 x 12-foot cabins, built of mortared stone and topped by a pyramidal hip roof, built by the Branch in the mountains between Sicamous and Revelstoke.  And it was a significant undertaking, involving the construction of 13 miles (21 km) of trail suitable for pack horses (at a cost of $1791) and telephone line ($2254), the lookout cabin ($1380), and an overnight cabin halfway along the trail ($210).

Senior Fire Ranger John “Jack” Mizon of Malakwa located the trail, the lower half of which followed old logging rail grades up Crazy Creek valley from the village of Taft; he also oversaw the construction of the lookout.  His son Christopher was hired to pack supplies, being paid $1.10 per day for his horse plus 10 cents for shoeing it.

Eagle Pass Mountain lookout opened on top of the prominent 7700-foot (2311 m) peak in 1922.  J. H. “Jack” Aubrey is said to be the first lookout man; certainly he is known to have occupied the lookout between 1924 and 28, earning $120 per month.  The lookout was active until 1931; closed by the impacts of the Great Depression, it never re-opened.  The vacant cabin stood proud until its roof was swept away by heavy snow sometime before 1975, leaving only the 4-foot-high lower walls.

The ruins were visited by a growing number of visitors that hiked or sledded the old pack trail, until in 2016 two local outdoor enthusiasts built a new shelter on top of the stone walls, believing that they had received verbal permission from the Ministry of Forests Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MFLNRORD). But in a controversial decision, the Ministry issued a stop-work order on the nearly completed structure and fined one of the two men $20,000.  After Rec Sites and Trails BC (the agency that administers the trail and lookout site) convened a working group to consider all options for the lookout site and the illegal structure, it made the (again controversial) decision to dismantle the new cabin, which is scheduled for summer 2022.

Key Facts

  • Lookout Type

D-6

  • Tower Status
  • Registry ID

13026

  • Build Date

Unknown

  • Elevation

2280 m

  • Access

4x4

Gallery

Geodata & Coordinates

Note: Coordinates listed on this site are intended as a guideline only. Locations are based on the best available information but may not be exact. Terrain changes, historical shifts, and data errors can affect accuracy — always verify before visiting or navigating to a site.

  • Lat / Long

51.06587, -118.54267

  • DMS

51°3.952′N · 118°32.560′W

  • What3Words
  • what3words
  • UTM
11 391908 5658282 Copied!
  • Plus Code
5933F348+W8
  • Geohash
c35dw2rb7

Trip Reports

Discussion

💬 Keep it clean. Please keep comments respectful, relevant, and on-topic. FireLookout.ca is a space for sharing stories, not starting fires. 🌲