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Fire lookout · Wallowa County, Oregon

Bone Spring Lookout Site

Wallowa County, OR tower site on the Umatilla NF: a 1932 pole tower, an 1949 L-4 replacement, gone by 1987. No source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Gone by 1987; no source describes what remains at the site today

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 tower87-foot treated-timber L-4 tower (1949), replacing a 48-foot pole tower (1932)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1930
Height
80 ft (24.4 m)
Elevation
5,867 ft (1,788 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Umatilla National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Wallowa County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.87735, −117.94686
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-bone-spring

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 3.9 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. 1930 BuiltCabin built and first used at the site (register)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1931 EventNewspaper item reports a tower of about 70 feet under construction, with a cabin on top; the height and date do not match the registerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1932 Built48-foot pole 7x7 tower constructedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1932 and 1949
  5. 1949 RemovedOld tower condemned and pulled down, per a Walla Walla Union-Bulletin itemSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1949 Replaced by a new structure87-foot treated-timber L-4 tower replaced the 1932 pole towerSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. 1953 StaffedTwo Forest Service workers serving as lookouts (August 1953 newspaper item)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1953 and 1973
  9. 1973 EventLookout downgraded to a stand-by lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1987 RemovedGone by 1987Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  11. No record between 1987 and 2011
  12. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered July 26, 2011 as US 1110, OR 466Source: firetower.org
  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.

Bone Spring is in Wallowa County, Oregon, on the Umatilla National Forest, about 20 miles east of Milton-Freewater.1,2 The site sits at 5,867 feet (1,788 m).1

The register dates the first use of the site to 1930, when a cabin was built, and gives 1932 for a 48-foot pole tower.1 A 1931 newspaper item, quoted on the Forest Lookouts page, describes a tower about 70 feet high under construction at the Bone Springs ranger station, with a cabin on top.3 That height does not match the register's 48-foot tower, and the sources do not reconcile the two.1,3

In 1949 the register says an 87-foot L-4 tower of treated timber took the pole tower's place.1 A Walla Walla Union-Bulletin item from July 31, 1949 describes the new towers as "over 80 feet" and says the old tower was condemned and then pulled down.3

In August 1953 the same paper reported two Forest Service workers serving as lookouts at Bone Springs.3 In May 1973 the site was reduced to stand-by status.3

The register lists the site as US 1110, OR 466, registered in July 2011.1 The register says the tower was gone by 1987, and firelookout.com dates the second tower to 1949 to 1987.1,2

We found no source that describes what remains at the site today.1,2,3

  1. Bone Spring Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/bone-spring-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Bone Spring Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/bonespring.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Bone Spring, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/bone-spring.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Bone Spring Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1956
1956 (1956)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1956
1956 (1956)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1970s
1970sPhoto: 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, 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: 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, 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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