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Fire lookout · Klamath County, Oregon

Calimus Butte Lookout

Built in 1920 as a cupola cabin on the Klamath reservation, rebuilt in 1930, and still staffed each summer.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Staffed lookout. The summit road is ungated and drivable, but visitors should approach or climb the tower only when invited by the attendant.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Gravel and cinder roads reach the summit, with no gate as of June 2022. Enter or climb only if invited.
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabcupola cabin (the present building dates from 1930)The design: Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
16 ft (4.9 m)
Elevation
6,584 ft (2,007 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Winema National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Klamath County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.63154, −121.55927
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-calimus-butte

View from the cab

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History

Then and now

  1. 1919 EventFirst used as an observation point; a telephone line reached the summit late in the 1919 fire season.Sources: firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1920 Built16x16 cabin with a 12x12 glassed tower on the summit, plus a two-room house about 2.5 miles south.Sources: firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1922 Built14x20 guard cabin added (a separate building from the lookout).Source: firelookout.com
  4. 1930 Replaced by a new structureThe first cupola cabin was replaced by the present cupola cabin. The register also gives 1930 as the construction date.Sources: firelookout.com, nhlr.org
  5. 1931 First staffedActive each summer from 1931, first by fire guards of the Klamath Tribe.Source: nhlr.org
  6. 1939 FireA July 13, 1939 fire on the Klamath reservation jumped its fire lines and surrounded the butte; on July 14 lookout Frank Coburn said he would not leave his station until he had to.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1939 and 1960
  8. 1960 EventLookout passed to the Oregon Department of Forestry (firelookout.com gives 1960; the register describes the state period as running until the mid-1970s).Source: firelookout.com
  9. No record between 1960 and 1998
  10. 1998 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterAdded to the National Historic Lookout Register, March 1, 1998.Source: nhlr.org
  11. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Calimus Butte was first used as a fire-watch site in 1919.1 A telephone line reached the summit late that fire season, but the site had no shelter, only a tent at grass and water below the mountain, until the buildings were finished about the end of the 1920 fire season.2 An agency timber report describes a 16-by-16 lookout with a 12-by-12 glassed tower on the summit, plus a two-room house about two and a half miles to the south.2 Firelookout.com adds that a 14-by-20 guard cabin followed in 1922.1

The original cupola cabin gave way to the building that stands today in 1930.1 The register also says the lookout was constructed in 1930.3

The register says the lookout has operated every summer since 1931, when Klamath Tribe fire guards held it first.3 By 1932 four crank-type phone lines ran to the lookout, making the butte a hub for reservation fire work.3

A July 13, 1939 newspaper report said a fire covering more than 5,000 acres of the Klamath reservation had jumped its fire lines and surrounded the butte.2 The next day another report said lookout Frank Coburn would remain at his post until forced to leave.2

Ownership passed from the Klamath Indian Agency to the Oregon Department of Forestry and later to the Winema National Forest.1 Firelookout.com dates the state takeover to 1960 and the Winema move to the mid-1970s.1 The register dates the end of Indian Agency operation to roughly two years before the 1961 Termination Act, and says the lookout joined the Winema National Forest after the forest was sold to the federal government in the mid-1970s.3

The register added the lookout on March 1, 1998.3 Firelookout.com says it is staffed every summer.1 A 2022 trip report found the summit road ungated and manageable, and reminded visitors to approach or climb the tower only when invited.4 The register counts Calimus as one of eight surviving Oregon cupola lookouts, and as one of three that are still manned.3

  1. Calimus Butte Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/calimusbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Calimus Butte Lookout, Forest Lookouts (oregonlookouts.weebly.com), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/calimus-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Calimus Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/calimus-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Calimus Butte L.O., The Roaming Civic, https://theroamingcivic.com/2022/06/28/calimus-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Calimus Butte Lookout - 2016
Calimus Butte Lookout - 2016 (2016)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
2005 with MGB
2005 with MGB (2005)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Undated Vintage Photo
Undated Vintage PhotoPhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Calimus Butte in the 1920s
Calimus Butte in the 1920s (1920)Photo: Ron Kemnow and Howard Verschoor, via firelookout.com · source
Calimus Butte L.O.
Calimus Butte L.OPhoto: Ron Kemnow and Howard Verschoor, via firelookout.com · 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1920
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1919
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1930

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: what it is built of, height, staffing, photos, 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, access, 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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