FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Grant County, Oregon

Aldrich Butte Lookout

Also known as Aldrich Mountain

Aldrich Butte's standing three-story cab dates to 1960, replacing a 1959 cab that vandals burned; sources name three different staffing agencies.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Open to the public. The Aug 2023 Malheur NF notice says public parking is available at the lookouts and visitors are welcome in daylight hours, and asks visitors to respect staff after hours. No source says whether the cab can be entered.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Three-story buildingthree-story ODF flat-roof live-in cab, 14x14 ft with catwalk (1960 replacement); the 1934 site had an L-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
90 ft (27.4 m)
Elevation
6,912 ft (2,107 m)
Agency
Oregon Department of Forestry
Land
Federal land
Location
Grant County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.37730, −119.45132
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-aldrich-butte

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

Downloads about 3.8 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. 1934 BuiltSite first used as a lookout in 1934; firelookout.com says it was developed with an L-4 cabSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1934 and 1959
  3. 1959 BuiltThree-story frame live-in ODF cab built in 1959Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  4. 1959 Burned1959 cab burned by vandals the same yearSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  5. 1960 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  6. 1960 Replaced by a new structurePresent lookout built in 1960 as an identical replacement to the same standard; NHLR calls it a three-story ODF flat-roof design with 14x14 ft cab and catwalkSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  7. No record between 1960 and 2003
  8. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered with the National Historic Lookout Register on January 8, 2003Source: nhlr.org
  9. No record between 2003 and 2023
  10. 2023 StaffedAug 15, 2023 Malheur NF notice lists Aldrich Lookout as an ODF lookout manned by the Bureau of Land ManagementSource: elkhornmediagroup.com
  11. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Aldrich Butte sits in Grant County, about 25 miles west of John Day, and it lies inside the Malheur National Forest.1,2 The National Historic Lookout Register says the Oregon Department of Forestry built and administers the tower.1

The site was first used as a lookout in 1934, and firelookout.com says the 1934 cab was an L-4 design.1,2 A three-story frame cab with a live-in space went up in 1959, and vandals burned it the same year.1,2 The present lookout was built in 1960 as an identical replacement, to the same standard.1,2 That standard is a three-story ODF flat-roof design with a 14-by-14-foot cab and a catwalk.1

The tower was registered with the National Historic Lookout Register on January 8, 2003.1 Beyond the 1959 vandalism, none of the sources we read records a fire at this site.1,2

Sources do not agree on who staffs it. The register says the Oregon Department of Forestry staffs it.1 An undated firelookout.com page says the Ochoco National Forest staffs it every summer.2 A forest notice from August 15, 2023 says the Bureau of Land Management mans it, and it lists the lookout apart from the forest's own staffed towers.3 That notice is the newest source we found, so it is the best guide for now.3

The register describes the tower as in active service, with coverage of state, BLM and private land.1 The 2023 notice says public parking is available at the lookouts it describes, and that visitors are welcome during daylight hours. It asks people to respect the staff after hours.3 We found nothing saying whether the cab itself can be entered, so check with the agency before you go.

  1. Aldrich Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/aldrich-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Aldrich Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/aldrichmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Malheur National Forest staffs fire lookouts, Elkhorn Media Group, https://elkhornmediagroup.com/?p=166912 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Aldrich Butte Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Aldrich Mtn. in 1977
Aldrich Mtn. in 1977 (1977)Photo: the Oregon Dept. of Forestry and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Aldrich Mtn. in 1983
Aldrich Mtn. in 1983 (1983)Photo: the Oregon Dept. of Forestry and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Aldrich Mtn. L.O.
Aldrich Mtn. L.OPhoto: the Oregon Dept. of Forestry and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Aldrich Mtn. L.O.
Aldrich Mtn. L.OPhoto: the Oregon Dept. of Forestry and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Aldrich Mtn. L.O.
Aldrich Mtn. L.OPhoto: the Oregon Dept. of Forestry and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Aldrich Mtn. in 2010
Aldrich Mtn. in 2010 (2010)Photo: the Oregon Dept. of Forestry and Rex Kamstra, 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 year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1960
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1934
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1960

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: what it is built of, design, ownership, staffing, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: 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
  6. Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) Gave us: links Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill, cherylhill.net) · No licence stated; facts only (name, agency, elevation, year built, design and height, status word, links). Posts' narrative and photos are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, 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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