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Fire lookout · Jefferson County, Oregon

Alder Springs Lookout Site

Deschutes NF lookout on Green Ridge near Sisters, Oregon: a tree platform, then a 1940 timber tower that sources date differently; gone by 1965.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Gone by 1965 per the register and firelookout.com; firelookout.com also says the 70-foot crow's nest is still there

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 sources disagree
Type
Cab on a towerTreated timber tower with a 7x7-foot steel cab (register); the L-4 cab appears only in a 1944 history-page entryThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1935
Height
76 ft (23.2 m)
Elevation
4,496 ft (1,370 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Deschutes National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Jefferson County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.62991, −121.55381 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-alder-springs

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 3.3 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. 1935 BuiltFirelookout.com dates the 70-foot crow's nest to 1935; the register gives the tree platform no dateSource: firelookout.com
  2. 1939 EventFive Fingered Sentinal butte chosen for a new lookout, per a 1939 Bend Bulletin itemSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1940 BuiltSource: firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page
  4. 1940 Replaced by a new structure85-foot treated timber tower with steel cab and a cabin replaced the tree platform, per the register and firelookout.comSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  5. 1940 StaffedCharles Lewis was the lookout in July 1940Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1941 FireSix-acre hunter fire directly west of the lookout, extinguished by forest service employees (October 1941)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1944 BuiltHistory page lists a 76-foot treated timber tower with a 14x14 L-4 cab, a couple miles north of the tree lookout; conflicts with the 1940 towerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1944 and 1959
  9. 1959 FireOne fire reported from the station during the 1959 fire seasonSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1965 RemovedGone by 1965 per the register and firelookout.comSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  11. No record between 1965 and 2010
  12. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: August 16, 2010Source: FFLOS register entry
  13. 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 Alder Springs lookout stood on Green Ridge in the Deschutes National Forest, about 23 miles north of Sisters.1,2 Sources disagree about the sequence of towers on the site, and the account below notes where they differ.

The first lookout was a tree platform. The register calls it a 70-foot tree platform.3 A lookout history page describes a 90-foot pine with a six-foot platform, located southwest of the later site.4

In 1939 the Bend Bulletin reported that a butte called Five Fingered Sentinal had been chosen for a new lookout. By August, Arvo Koski had left Prairie Farm, where he had been stationed while the site was readied, and was in a temporary crow's nest in a tree.2

The register and firelookout.com say an 85-foot treated timber tower with a steel cab, plus a cabin, replaced the tree in 1940.3,1 A history page lists a 76-foot tower with an L-4 cab, built in 1944 a couple miles north of the tree lookout.2 We could not tell whether these describe one tower or two.

Charles Lewis was the lookout in July 1940, when lightning struck a green tree about 100 yards from the tower.2 In October 1941 forest service employees put out a six-acre hunter fire just west of the lookout.2 The station reported one fire during the 1959 season.2

Both the register and firelookout.com say the lookout was gone by 1965.3,1

The register's photo captions include "Material remains" and "Present lookout site," both dated June 4, 2002, but the captions do not say what was there.3 Firelookout.com describes the 70-foot crow's nest as "still there," a claim the register does not repeat.1 We found no source that describes the site as it is now or whether the public can reach it.

A separate Green Ridge Lookout, a cabin on a two-story tower on the same ridge, is available for rent.5 Recreation.gov says it was built in the 1960s.6 The sources do not say whether it stands on the old Alder Springs site, so visitors should not assume it does.

  1. Alder Springs Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/aldersprings.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Alder Springs, Forest Lookouts (Oregon), Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/alder-springs.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Alder Springs Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/alder-springs-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Alder Springs Tree, Forest Lookouts (Oregon), Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/alder-springs-tree.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Deschutes National Forest, Green Ridge Lookout, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/deschutes/recreation/green-ridge-lookout (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Green Ridge Lookout, Deschutes National Forest, Recreation.gov, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234477 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Alder Springs Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Another base for a leg 6/4/2002
Another base for a leg 6/4/2002 (2002)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Base for a leg 6/4/2002
Base for a leg 6/4/2002 (2002)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Foundation piece still in place 6/4/2002
Foundation piece still in place 6/4/2002 (2002)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Material remains 6/4/2002
Material remains 6/4/2002 (2002)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Present lookout site 6/4/2002
Present lookout site 6/4/2002 (2002)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Alder Springs in 1935
Alder Springs in 1935 (1935)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, via firelookout.com · 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the location by 264 km (164 mi).

    • FFLA: 44.62991, −121.55381
    • FFLOS: 44.68460, −118.21383

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from FFLA.

  • Sources disagree on whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Standing

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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: location, 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: dates, photos, 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: 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, visiting details, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.