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Fire lookout · Jackson County, Oregon

Blue Rock Lookout Site

Jackson County, OR lookout built 1934, replaced by a 53-foot tower in 1963 that moved to Robinson Butte in 1973 or 1974; no source describes the old site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Torn down in 1962; the 1963 replacement was moved to Robinson Butte; the Oregon list marks the site Tower Gone

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 towerPole tower with L-4 cab; sources give 35, 40 or 45 feet for the 1934 towerThe designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1934
Height
35 ft (10.7 m)
Elevation
6,588 ft (2,008 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Rogue River National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Jackson County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.53513, −122.29865
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-blue-rock

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 3.6 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. 1913 EventDistrict fire plan hopes to station a lookout man with telephone connections at Blue RockSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. No record between 1913 and 1934
  3. 1934 BuiltRegister and firelookout.com give 1934; Oregon page says about 1935Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1940 FireSmoker-caused fire in Blue Canyon near Horseshoe Lake spotted and put out by the lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1941 StaffedLookout staffed 85 daysSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1942 EventSite served as an AWS station from August 1942 to June 1943Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1952 EventNewspaper item (July 14, 1952) refers to the Blue Rock lookout station as a workplaceSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1962 RemovedOld tower torn down to make room for a new towerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1963 Replaced by a new structure53-foot treated timber tower with flat R-6 cab builtSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1973 MovedMoved to Robinson Butte per register and firelookout.com; 1974 per the Oregon page and the Robinson Butte pageSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. No record between 1973 and 2010
  12. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 23, 2010 as US 766, OR 175Source: firetower.org
  13. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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 Blue Rock lookout site is in Jackson County, Oregon, within the Rogue River National Forest. It borders the Sky Lakes Wilderness.1,2

Planning for a lookout here came early: a 1913 district fire plan hoped to place a lookout man at Blue Rock, linked by telephone.3

The register and firelookout.com date the first tower to 1934.1,2 The Oregon page puts it at about 1935.3 The register gives 45 feet, the Oregon page gives 35 feet, and a 1936 newspaper calls it a 40-foot tower, so sources disagree on its height.1,3

In August 1940 the lookout spotted a smoker-caused fire in Blue Canyon, near Horseshoe Lake, and it was put out before it spread.3 The lookout was staffed for 85 days in 1941.3 From August 1942 to June 1943 the site was an AWS station, and in the winter of 1942 a couple served there as observers.3 A 1952 newspaper item still refers to the Blue Rock lookout station as a workplace.3

In 1962 the old tower was taken down to clear the way for a replacement.3 The 1963 replacement stood 53 feet tall, was built of treated timber, and had a flat-topped R-6 cab.1,3

That tower was moved to Robinson Butte.1,2 The register and firelookout.com date the move to 1973, while the Oregon page and the Robinson Butte page say 1974.1,2,3,4 The Robinson Butte page says the tower there came from Blue Rock, and the Oregon lookout list shows a standing tower at Robinson Butte.4,5

The Oregon list marks the original Blue Rock site as "Tower Gone."5 No source we read describes what, if anything, remains there, or whether the public can reach it today.

  1. Blue Rock Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/blue-rock-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Blue Rock Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/bluerock.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Blue Rock - Forest Lookouts, Oregon Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/blue-rock.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Robinson Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/robinsonbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Oregon Lookouts list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Blue Rock Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Blue Rock Lookout Site
Photo: 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, 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: 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: 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, 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

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