FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Douglas County, Oregon

Chilcoot Mountain Lookout Site

Also known as Chilcoot

Umpqua NF lookout in Douglas County, Oregon: a 1930 tree platform replaced by an L-4 cab in 1931, gone after 1962-1964.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. firelookout.com says abandoned in 1964 and gone; the register says removed or destroyed in 1964; Rex's page says dismantled in 1962

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 cabL-4 cab (1931), preceded by a 1930 six-by-six platform built in a treeThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1930
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,986 ft (1,520 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Umpqua National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Douglas County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.43306, −122.72826
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-chilcoot-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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 3.5 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. 1923 EventForest files cited on Rex's page record a one-room log tool house with a shake roof, built for $40Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1930 BuiltRegister: a 6X6 platform built in a tree with a tent nearby; the register's Built field gives 1930Source: firetower.org
  3. 1930 StaffedSeptember 1930 Roseburg News-Review item describes the lookout passing many hours each day at the tree platform; no names givenSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1931 Replaced by a new structureRegister and firelookout.com: the platform was replaced by an L-4 cab in 1931; Rex's page lists an L-4 gable roof lookout house built in 1931Sources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1931 and 1962
  6. 1962 RemovedRex's page says the lookout was dismantled in 1962; this conflicts with the 1964 dates on the register and firelookout.comSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1964 RemovedRegister Removed field gives 1964 and says destroyed; firelookout.com says abandoned in 1964 and goneSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1964 and 2019
  9. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites Register November 12, 2019Source: firetower.org
  10. 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.

Chilcoot Mountain lies about 24 miles southwest of Oakridge, in the Umpqua National Forest of Douglas County, Oregon, at roughly 1,520 meters.1,2 Forest files cited on a lookout history page record a one-room log tool house on the site in 1923.3 The register dates the first lookout, a six-by-six platform in a tree, to 1930, and says a tent went up close by.1

A September 1930 Roseburg News-Review item described how the watch worked.3 The lookout spent long daily stretches watching from a nearby fir, reached by ladder, and a telephone on the small platform linked it to the forest's other stations.3 The register and firelookout.com both say an L-4 cab replaced the platform in 1931.1,2

Rex's page says the lookout was dismantled in 1962.3 The register says it was removed or destroyed in 1964, and firelookout.com says it was abandoned that year and is now gone.1,2 The sources do not agree on the year the lookout came down.1,3,2

firelookout.com places the cab at the northwest tip below the summit.2 No source we read describes what, if anything, remains there today, or whether the site is open to visitors. Check with the Umpqua National Forest before planning a trip.

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

Photos

Chilcoot Mountain Lookout 1940
Chilcoot Mountain Lookout 1940 (1940)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Chilcoot Mountain Lookout panoramic 8-22-1933
Chilcoot Mountain Lookout panoramic 8-22-1933 (1933)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, 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.