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Fire lookout · Washington County, Oregon

Buxton Mountain Lookout Site

Oregon Department of Forestry lookout on Buxton Mountain: a 100-foot tower built 1941, replaced 1963, removed 1998. The register says only a foundation piece remains.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed in 1998; the register says only a foundation piece remains

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 tower100-foot wooden L-6 tower (1941), replaced by a 99-foot timber tower with a 7x7 cab (1963)The design: L-6
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1941
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
2,217 ft (676 m)
Agency
Oregon Department of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Washington County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.74458, −123.13511
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-buxton-mountain

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. 1939 EventCamp program plans a mile-long road to the summit and a 100-foot tower with cabinSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1941 Built100-foot wooden L-6 towerSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1942 First staffedActivated March 9, 1942, under the Portland Filter Center; a 1942 report plans observers and a fire guard for the seasonSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1942 and 1962
  5. 1962 Replaced by a new structureConstruction begins on the new 99-foot tower and lookout cabinSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1963 FireLookout Marcia Yeater spotted a smoke near Manning; the person who came on the radio admitted burning trash beside a houseSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1963 Replaced by a new structure99-foot timber tower with a 7x7 cab completed (Rex's page says 9x9 cab)Sources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1963 and 1998
  9. 1998 RemovedTower removed; staffed into the 1970s before removalSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 23, 2010Source: firetower.org
  11. 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.

Buxton Mountain sits in Washington County, Oregon, and the Oregon Department of Forestry administers the site.1

A 1939 camp program planned a mile-long road to the summit and a 100-foot lookout tower with a cabin.2 The tower went up in 1941 as a 100-foot wooden L-6 tower.1,3

Records show the lookout was activated on March 9, 1942, under the Portland Filter Center.2 A 1942 inspection report said that, because of logging and fire hazard, the warden would keep both observers and hire a fire guard, and that all three staff would also track aircraft, not only watch for fires.2

In October 1963 lookout Marcia Yeater spotted a smoke near Manning.2 A Forest Log account says the person who came on the radio admitted burning trash beside a house.2

Work on a new 99-foot tower began in 1962.2 By 1963 a timber tower with a 7x7 cab was finished, with living quarters in a concrete block ground cabin.2 Rex's page gives the cab as 9x9 feet instead.3

One 1940 line in the Oregon Lookouts record gives the tower as 113 feet, while the other records give 100.2,1,3

The register and Rex's page say the tower was staffed into the 1970s and removed in 1998.1,3 The register says only a foundation piece remains.1

The register's photo caption describes an area between two fences on site.1 No source we found says whether visitors may enter it or how to reach it.1

  1. Buxton Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/buxton-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Buxton Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Oregon Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/buxton-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Buxton Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://www.firelookout.com/or/buxton.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Buxton Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Area between two fences on site
Area between two fences on sitePhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
This foundation piece is the only part of tower remaining.
This foundation piece is the only part of tower remainingPhoto: 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, 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, height, 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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