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Fire lookout · Curry County, Oregon

Bosley Butte Lookout Site

Curry County ground lookout on Bosley Butte, registered as built around 1940; burned in 2012 and replaced by a detection camera. No current access described.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The cab burned down in 2012. The Coos Forest Protective Association did not plan to replace it and had a detection camera on the summit.

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 cabGround-level cab on the summit; the register lists L-4 cabs (1940, 1954) and an Amort cab (1984), while other sources date a new cab to 1987The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1940
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,432 ft (1,046 m)
Agency
Oregon Department of Forestry (register); Coos Forest Protective Association ran the later camera
Land
Unknown
Location
Curry County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.20926, −124.22576
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-bosley-butte

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 3.6 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. 1935 EventCamp on the site (a rag camp, per the register)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1940 BuiltRegister's year for the first L-4 ground cabin; a June 1941 newspaper describes the station being built that yearSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1941 EventFire warden supervised building the new lookout station atop Bosley Butte (Port Orford Post, June 27, 1941)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1954 Replaced by a new structureL-4 cab replaced by another L-4 (register); a 14 x 14 ground house is listed in the 1954 district reportSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1954 and 1984
  6. 1984 Replaced by a new structureRegister gives an Amort cab in 1984Source: firetower.org
  7. 1987 Replaced by a new structureOther sources date a new cab to 1987 (ODF cab; State-designed house on a short leveling tower)Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1987 and 2005
  9. 2005 EventLightning strike destroyed the communications antenna; fuses worked and the damage was limited to the antennaSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 2009 EventCoos FPA installed a smoke detecting camera system on the lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 2010 StaffedThe 1987 ODF cab was being staffed every summer and was still there in 2010Source: firelookout.com
  12. 2012 BurnedFire destroyed the lookout structure in spring 2012; cause under investigation, vandalism suspectedSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, cherylhill.net
  13. 2012 Removed'Removed' field on FFLOS detail page: "2012".Source: FFLOS register entry
  14. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 11, 2019 as US 1808, OR 531Source: firetower.org
  15. 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.

Bosley Butte, in Curry County, had a camp on the site by 1935.1,2 The register gives 1940 as the year the first ground cabin went up, but a June 1941 newspaper item describes a new lookout station being built on the butte that year, so the build year is uncertain.1,3

The register says the L-4 cab was replaced in 1954 with another L-4.1 A 1954 district report lists a 14 x 14 ground house at the site, with no unit given.3 The register dates its Amort cab to 1984, while the other two sources date a new cab to 1987.1,3,2 That 1987 cab was staffed every summer and was still standing in 2010.2 In 1958 the station reported to Grizzly Mountain by radio, and no telephone line reached it.3

A lightning strike in February 2005 destroyed the lookout's antenna, but its fuses held and the damage stayed with the antenna.3 The Coos Forest Protective Association installed a smoke-detecting camera system on the lookout in 2009.3

The lookout burned down in 2012.1,2 The cause was still under investigation in mid-May, and vandalism was suspected.3 A 2012 blog post reported that the association did not plan to replace the lookout, and firelookout.com says it had already put a detection camera in its place.4,2

I could not find a source that describes the site today or says whether the public can visit the summit. The most recent dated source read is from September 2012.4 The register lists the site at 3,432 feet.1

  1. Bosley Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/bosley-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Bosley Butte Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/bosleybutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Bosley Butte - Forest Lookouts, Oregon Forest Lookouts (oregonlookouts.weebly.com), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/bosley-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Bosley Butte lookout gone, Every Lookout in Oregon, https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/2012/09/15/bosley-butte-lookout-gone/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Bosley Butte Lookout 2008
Bosley Butte Lookout 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Bosley Butte Lookout 2008
Bosley Butte Lookout 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Bosley Butte Lookout 1984
Bosley Butte Lookout 1984 (1984)Photo: La Vaughn Kemnow, Ron Kemnow collection, via 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, 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: 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. 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
  6. 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

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