Fire lookout · Clackamas County, Oregon
Clatskanie Mountain Lookout Site (now at Hopkins Forest)
Also known as Hopkins Forest, Hopkins Demonstration Forest
Steel Oregon Dept. of Forestry lookout built 1954 on Clatskanie Mountain; moved in 1984 to Magness Tree Farm and in later years to Hopkins Demonstration Forest, Beavercreek.
- Standing
- Open to the public
- Verified
Visit & stay
Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.
Access
Open to the public. Operator planned to open the tower to students and the public in 2021; current hours and climbing rules not confirmed
- Can you climb it?
- Unknown
- Road to the top?
- Yes, you can drive up
- Trail
- As of a 2020 visitor's page, at the edge of the Hopkins Demonstration Forest parking lot; reached by road from Oregon City
- Staffing
- Unknown
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a towerSteel Aermotor tower with a 7 by 7 foot cab and catwalkThe design: Aermotor
- Built of
- Steel
- Built
- 1954
- Height
- 65 ft (19.8 m)
- Elevation
- Unknown
- Agency
- Forests Forever, Inc. (operates Hopkins Demonstration Forest)
- Land
- Unknown
- Location
- Clackamas County, Oregon
- Coordinates
- 45.24945, −122.52311
- Registers
- Not on a lookout register
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-or-clatskanie-mountain-lookout-site-at-hopkins-forest
View from the cab
What you see from the 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.
Downloads about 3.8 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
- 1954 BuiltErected by the Oregon Department of Forestry on Clatskanie Mountain, north Oregon Coast Range east of Astoria; steel Aermotor tower and cabSources: firetower.org, demonstrationforest.org
- No record between 1954 and 1984
- 1984 MovedDecommissioned in June 1984 and moved to Magness Memorial Tree Farm, where the World Forestry Center ran it as an exhibit. The register says near Woodburn; the operator says near Wilsonville.Sources: firetower.org, demonstrationforest.org
- No record between 1984 and 2008
- 2008 EventJune 2008 agreement between Forests Forever, Inc. and the Oregon Department of Forestry to relocate the tower to Hopkins Demonstration ForestSource: demonstrationforest.org
- 2010 BuiltSource: Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill)
- 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register (US 679) on September 23, 2010Source: firetower.org
- 2019 RebuiltFire Tower Restoration (Bloomingdale, New York) crew rebuilt the cab on top of the steel tower in December 2019Source: demonstrationforest.org
- 2020 AlteredHopkins volunteers replaced stair treads, railings and safety fencing for public access, during the pandemic year (year inferred from the article)Source: demonstrationforest.org
- Date unknown MovedMoved from Clatskanie to Hopkins Forest.Source: FFLA
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
The lookout began on Clatskanie Mountain, in the north Oregon Coast Range east of Astoria.1 The Oregon Department of Forestry put up a steel Aermotor tower and cab there in 1954, as part of its fire protection work.2,1 The cab at the top measures 7 by 7 feet and is ringed by a catwalk.1
In June 1984 the tower was decommissioned and moved to the Magness Memorial Tree Farm, where the World Forestry Center ran it as an educational exhibit.1 The register says the farm is near Woodburn, while the operator says near Wilsonville, so the sources differ on the nearby town.2,1 Over time the tower was damaged by vandals and could not be kept in proper repair.1
In June 2008 Forests Forever, Inc. agreed with the Oregon Department of Forestry to move the tower to Hopkins Demonstration Forest in Beavercreek, for its education programs.1 The operator says the move took more than ten years, needed county permits, a full dismantling, re-fabricated components and specialist help.1 The steel tower stood on its own at Hopkins for nine years.1 In December 2019 Fire Tower Restoration, a New York firm, sent a crew to rebuild the cab on top of it.1 Volunteers then replaced the stair treads, railings and safety fencing for public access.1
The former-sites register dates its entry for the site to September 23, 2010. That is a registration date, not the year the tower was built, which was 1954.2,1 The operator planned to open it to students and the public later in 2021.1 A 2020 visitor's page places the tower at the edge of the forest's parking lot and lists it as an exhibit at 60 feet, while the operator gives 65 feet.3,1 Directions from that page start in Oregon City, heading south on Highway 213 toward Molalla.3 We have not confirmed current opening days or climbing rules, so check with the forest before going up.
- Historic Fire Lookout Dream Comes True!, Hopkins Demonstration Forest, https://demonstrationforest.org/news/historic-fire-lookout-dream-comes-true/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Clatskanie Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register (US 679), firetower.org, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/clatskanie-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
- Hopkins Demonstration Forest, Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill), https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/2020/09/30/hopkins-demonstration-forest/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
Sources
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, type, status, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only, no prose copied. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
- FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) (opens another site) Gave us: agency, 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
- Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) (opens another site) Gave us: what it is built of, height, dates, 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
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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
- Clatskanie Mountain Lookout Site (US 679) (Former Fire Lookout Sites register (firetower.org)) (opens another site)
- Historic Fire Lookout Dream Comes True! (Hopkins Demonstration Forest) (opens another site)
- FFLA Oregon lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Hopkins Demonstration Forest on Forest Lookouts, western US (Ron Kemnow) (opens another site)
- Hopkins Demonstration Forest on Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.