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Fire lookout · Deschutes County, Oregon

Broken Top (McArthur Rim) Lookout Site

Also known as Broken Top

Deschutes NF L-4 lookout cabin built 1931 half a mile south of Three Creek Lake, abandoned 1952; only concrete foundation blocks remain, per the FFLOS register.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned 1952; the FFLOS entry (registered 2010) and firelookout.com both say it is now gone, with only concrete foundation blocks left.

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
Trail
The access road is very faint and hard to follow. The newer TWA Trail gives better access.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 gable-roof groundhouse, 14x14 ft wood frameThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1931
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,375 ft (2,248 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Deschutes National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Deschutes County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.08866, −121.62552
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-broken-top-mcarthur-rim

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. 1931 BuiltBuilt one-half mile south of Three Creek Lake; construction started August 1931 per a Bend Bulletin item; cost $688.74Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1931 StaffedVeldon Parker, fireman-lookout, on duty at the new stationSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1935 StaffedTheron Beougher, Deschutes National Forest lookout; lightning struck nearby rocks and treesSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1938 StaffedCharles Combs placed on Broken Top as lookout fireman, July 1938Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1952 AbandonedAbandoned; FFLOS and firelookout.com both give 1952Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  6. 1966 EventAluminum marker placed on a 4'x4' treated post, July 31, 1966Source: firetower.org
  7. No record between 1966 and 2010
  8. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 7, 2010 as US 702, OR 113Source: 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.

The Deschutes National Forest built a new lookout in 1931, half a mile south of Three Creek Lake.1 It was a 14-by-14-foot L-4 cabin with a gable roof and a wood frame, and its construction cost was $688.74.1,2 A Bend Bulletin item from August 1931, reprinted on a lookout history site, reported that work had started on a new standard lookout house on a ridge near Three Creeks Lake.2

The same item named Veldon Parker as the lookout on duty at the new post.2 In July 1935 a newspaper report described a lightning storm in which bolts struck rocks and trees near the cabin of Theron Beougher, the Deschutes lookout there.2 In July 1938, Charles Combs was assigned to the Broken Top lookout as its fireman.2

The register says the cabin was abandoned in 1952 and is now gone.1 Firelookout.com, a second site, gives the same 1952 date.3 Only the concrete foundation blocks are left.1 The register also describes a structure in a nearby whitebark pine that may be part of an old crow's nest.1 An aluminum marker on a treated post is dated July 31, 1966.1

According to the register, the access road is barely visible and hard to follow, and the newer TWA Trail is the easier route.1 It does not say whether the public may visit the site.1

  1. Broken Top (McArthur Rim) Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/broken-top-mcarthur-rim-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Broken Top, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/broken-top.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Broken Top (McArthur Rim) Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/brokentop.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Broken Top Lookout panoramic
Broken Top Lookout panoramicPhoto: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Aluminum marker reads: "Gary T. Steller, Dundee, Oregon, Marker Placed, July 31, 1966."
Aluminum marker reads: "Gary T. Steller, Dundee, Oregon, Marker Placed, July 31, 1966." (1966)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
The flagstone landing that Richard Spray points to in the photo is all but invisible unless you are directly above it. The marker post is on the left. Two of the foundation blocks are in the foreground.
The flagstone landing that Richard Spray points to in the photo is all but invisible unless you are directly above it. The marker post is on the left. Two of the foundation blocks are in the foregroundPhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
February 2, 2002
February 2, 2002 (2002)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
February 2, 2002
February 2, 2002 (2002)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Broken Top Lookout site 2002
Broken Top Lookout site 2002 (2002)Photo: Irene Potter, 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, 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, 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

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