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Fire lookout · Douglas County, Oregon

Collins Mountain Lookout Site

Umpqua NF lookout site, Douglas County, OR: tree platform 1931, L-4 cab 1933, tower 1954 or 1970 (sources disagree); now gone. Site today not described.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Register says now gone; no source describes what remains on the summit today

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 towerL-4 cabThe design: L-4 sources disagree
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1931
Height
50 ft (15.2 m)
Elevation
3,669 ft (1,118 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Douglas County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.98660, −122.79533
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-collins-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. 1914 EventFirst used as an emergency lookout with a compass (Oregon Lookouts only)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1925 EventLookout stationed atop a 50-foot tree, c.1925 (Oregon Lookouts only)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1931 BuiltTree platform built; the register and firelookout.com say it was still there in the 1980sSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  4. 1933 BuiltL-4 lookout cab or house builtSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1941 StaffedChester Morgan named as the Forest Service lookout on Collins Butte during the past season, per a September 3, 1941 newspaper item quoted on Oregon LookoutsSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1954 Replaced by a new structureNew lookout tower and cab erected, c.1954 (Oregon Lookouts only; conflicts with the 1970 tower date)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1954 and 1970
  8. 1970 BuiltWooden tower constructed (register and firelookout.com; Oregon Lookouts gives c.1954)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  9. 1970 EventUsed for emergencies in the 1970s; the year given is the start of the decade, not a single dateSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. No record between 1970 and 2010
  11. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: December 9, 2010Source: FFLOS register entry
  12. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

Collins Mountain rises to 3,669 feet in the Umpqua National Forest in Douglas County, Oregon, about 24 miles east of Canyonville.1,2

The site was used for fire watch well before a cab stood on the summit.3 The Oregon Lookouts page says the site was first used in 1914 as an emergency lookout equipped with a compass, and that a lookout was posted in a 50-foot tree around 1925.3 The register and firelookout.com instead date a tree platform to 1931 and say it survived into the 1980s.1,2

A 1932 administrative site record, quoted on the Oregon Lookouts page, described a planned 14-by-14 glass-ribbed house for the lookout. It also said the public could reach the tract only by horse or on foot, six miles from the closest road.3 An L-4 lookout house went up in 1933.1,2,3

A September 1941 newspaper item, also quoted there, said Chester Morgan had staffed the Collins Butte lookout for the season just ended.3

The sources disagree on what came next. The Oregon Lookouts page dates a new tower and cab to about 1954. The register and firelookout.com date a wooden tower to 1970.1,2,3 The register and firelookout.com both say the lookout was used for emergencies in the 1970s.1,2

The register says the lookout is now gone.1 No source describes what, if anything, remains on the summit today, and none records whether the site is open to visitors.

  1. Collins Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, Forest Fire Lookout Association, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/collins-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Collins Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/collinsmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Collins Mountain, Forest Lookouts Oregon, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/collins-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Collins Mountain Lookout 1946
Collins Mountain Lookout 1946 (1946)Photo: Rex Kamstra collection, 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.

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 what kind of structure it is.

    • FFLA: Cab on a tower
    • FFLOS: Lookout tree

    Sources disagree on whether a tower or building stood here, or only a camp or lookout tree.

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: design, 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, 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

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