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Fire lookout · Lake County, Oregon

Abert Rim Lookout Site

Lake County, OR steel Aermotor tower on Fremont NF, dated 1932 or 1934; manned in 1959, removed or destroyed in 1976. No source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1976 per the register and Forest Lookouts; firelookout.com says destroyed. No source describes what remains at the site

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerSteel Aermotor tower with a 7x7 cab and a ground cabin for living quartersThe design: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1932
Height
60 ft (18.3 m)
Elevation
7,537 ft (2,297 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Fremont National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Lake County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.38836, −120.23473
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-abert-rim

View from the cab

What the lookout saw from its cab: every ridge out to about 93 miles, the named peaks in sight, and other fire lookouts within view, worked out from terrain data in your browser.

This lookout is gone. The view is reconstructed from its recorded site and its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.7 MB of terrain data the first time.

Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1931 EventSite selected as an auxiliary lookout station (May 1931)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1932 BuiltTower completed in 1932 per the Forest Lookouts history; the register and firelookout.com date it 1934Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, lakelookouts.blogspot.com
  3. No record between 1932 and 1959
  4. 1959 StaffedManned by a University of Oregon student, per the Herald and News as quoted by Forest LookoutsSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1969 EventUsed only for emergencies, per the 1969 lookout inventorySource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1976 RemovedRemoved per the register and Forest Lookouts; firelookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  7. No record between 1976 and 2011
  8. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered May 17, 2011 as US 1005, OR 363Source: firetower.org
  9. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left.

Old maps of this spot

USGS topographic maps from the years a lookout stood may show it, often as a small symbol labelled “Lookout”. See the old topo maps around it on the Firefinder map, or find every scanned sheet of this spot on USGS TopoView (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).

Story

Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

The Former Fire Lookout Sites register dates the Abert Rim tower to 1934 and places it close to the south end of the fault rim. It describes a 60-foot steel tower with a ground house.1 The Forest Lookouts history gives an earlier start.2 The site was picked as an auxiliary lookout station in May 1931, and the tower was completed in 1932.2 The labor came from the Forest Relief Program, a work program for people without jobs.2 The same history quotes a 1959 report that repeats the 1934 date and marks it as incorrect.2

The heights disagree too. The history quotes the 1932 plan at 60 feet, but its completion note gives 72 feet with a question mark.2 firelookout.com gives 60 feet and says the tower was destroyed in 1976.3 The Lake County Fire Lookouts blog lists a 72-foot Aermotor LS-40 built in 1932.4

In 1959 the Herald and News reported that a University of Oregon student was manning the lookout.2 By 1969 the lookout was used only for emergencies.2 A 1972 report listed it as an emergency tower that had not been inspected.2

The register and the Forest Lookouts history both say the lookout was removed in 1976.1,2 The sources differ on how it ended: firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year.3 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's list marks the site as gone.5

The register places the site on Fremont National Forest land in Lake County.1 A National Geodetic Survey record, as quoted by Forest Lookouts, describes a survey mark stamped ABERT RIM 1935 set close to the lookout's living quarters.2 We found no source that says whether that mark or any other part of the site remains today, or whether the public may visit.

  1. Abert Rim Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/abert-rim-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Abert Rim, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/abert-rim.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Abert Rim Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/abertrim.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Lake County Fire Lookouts, https://lakelookouts.blogspot.com/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Oregon Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Abert Rim Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

Photos keep their own rights and are shown with credit. Is one of these yours? You can ask for a different credit or for removal.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved (American Resources, Inc.); facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  2. Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists Gave us: type, status, register numbers, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  3. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: links firelookout.com · No licence stated on the site; facts only (coordinates, elevation, built/destroyed years, design, agency). Photos mirrored with the site's stated credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, links Ron Kemnow's Forest Lookouts sites (westlookouts, californialookouts, idaholookouts, montanalookouts, oregonlookouts and washingtonlookouts .weebly.com) · No licence stated; facts only (county, land manager, status word, coordinates where the page's own map widget gives them, township-range-section, height and design hints, links). The site's own newspaper quotes, citations and narrative are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, dates, links, fact-check Firefinder research (sources cited in the story footnotes) · Our own research notes; each fact cites its source in the lookout's story

More about this lookout elsewhere

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