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Fire lookout · Marion County, Oregon

Bear Point Lookout Site

Marion County ground site: L-4 cab built 1934 on the Willamette NF, staffed in 1941, burned in October 1968; no source describes the summit today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Gone by 1968; Forest Lookouts says the structure was disposed of by burning on October 11, 1968.

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
Ground-level cabL-4 cab (14x14-ft lookout house) built 1934The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,043 ft (1,842 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Marion County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.75040, −121.85007
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-bear-point

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.5 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 EventNamed one of eleven new emergency lookout stations; to be linked by the forest telephone system to the fire control office at Fish Lake.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1934 BuiltL-4 cab built in 1934. The register says the USFS built it; Forest Lookouts says the CCC constructed a 14x14 L-4 lookout house.Sources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1934 StaffedNewspaper of July 31, 1934 names Kenneth Wilson as stationed at the lookout, 6,035 ft, highest in the Willamette National Forest.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1941 StaffedStaffed for 70 days; reports ran through the Detroit Ranger Station by way of the Santiam Co-op Telephone Company.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1941 and 1968
  6. 1968 BurnedStructure disposed of by burning on October 11, 1968. The register says it was gone by 1968.Sources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1968 and 2010
  8. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered August 16, 2010; nominated by Ray Kresek.Source: 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.

Bear Point is in Marion County, Oregon, in the Mount Hood region.1 Forest Lookouts places it in the Willamette National Forest.2

In April 1931 the forest supervisor, C. C. Hall, said Bear Point was one of eleven emergency lookouts planned that year.2 It was to join the forest telephone system, giving it a link to the fire control office at Fish Lake.2 The lookout was built in 1934. The register says the U.S. Forest Service built its L-4 cab that year, while Forest Lookouts says the CCC constructed a 14-by-14-foot lookout house.1,2

In July 1934 a newspaper reported that Kenneth Wilson was stationed there, and called the lookout the highest in the Willamette National Forest, at 6,035 feet.2 The register gives the summit as 6,043 feet, so the two sources differ slightly on elevation.1,2 In 1941 the lookout was staffed for 70 days. Reports were relayed through the Detroit Ranger Station and the Santiam Co-op Telephone Company.2

Forest Lookouts says the structure was burned on October 11, 1968.2 The register says the cab was gone by 1968.1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register listed the site on August 16, 2010, with Ray Kresek as nominator.1

The register lists the site as administered by the U.S. Forest Service.1 No source describes what, if anything, remains on the summit now, or whether the summit is open to visitors. Check with the Forest Service before going.

  1. Bear Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/bear-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Bear Point, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/bear-point.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Bear Point Lookout panoramic 5-23-34
Bear Point Lookout panoramic 5-23-34Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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, 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, status, agency, staffing, 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.