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Fire lookout · Lane County, Oregon

Cummins Peak Lookout Site (Lane County)

Also known as Cummins Peak

Siuslaw National Forest lookout in Lane County, Oregon: cupola in the 1920s, a 41-foot tower in 1954, last staffed 1971, removed about 1975; the site is gone.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1975 per the register (c.1975 per the Forest Lookouts site); no source describes what 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 towerTreated timber tower, 41 feet, with an L-4 cab (1954); the first lookout was a D-6 cupolaThe designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1920
Height
41 ft (12.5 m)
Elevation
2,475 ft (754 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Siuslaw National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Lane County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.23566, −123.99282
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-cummins-peak-lane-county

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 3.8 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

  1. 1920 Built'Built' field on FFLOS detail pageSource: FFLOS register entry
  2. 1923 EventExaminer A.R. Wilcox calls the peak an ideal place for a permanent lookout (Morning Register, Feb. 7, 1923); the item places the mountain in Lincoln County, near WaldportSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1924 First staffedA lookout spent the summer of 1924 on the peak, per the Eugene Guard (Sept. 27, 1924)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1925 BuiltNewspapers of April 1925 describe a new lookout house being erected; a January 1926 item says one was built for $924. The register dates the first D-6 cupola to the 1920sSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1926 StaffedWalter Hosford named fire lookout for the summer (June 11, 1926 item)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1930 StaffedEd Weise identified as lookout man (Siuslaw Oar, Aug. 15, 1930)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1932 AlteredL-4 cab replaced the cupola (register: 1932; firelookout.com: 1934)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  8. 1932 StaffedTherone Farris and Verus Dahlin shared the seasonSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1942 EventActivated March 7, 1942, for the Eugene Filter CenterSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1943 AlteredL-4 cab placed on a short towerSource: firetower.org
  11. 1954 Replaced by a new structure41-foot treated timber tower with an L-4 cab. Register says built; the Forest Lookouts site cites a memo on moving the Blodgett Peak lookout; firelookout.com says moved from Blodgett PeakSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  12. No record between 1954 and 1971
  13. 1971 Last staffedFinal year staffedSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  14. 1972 EventUsed as an emergency post; sold for salvageSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  15. 1975 RemovedRemoved (register: 1975; Forest Lookouts site: c.1975)Sources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  16. No record between 1975 and 2019
  17. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered November 6, 2019 by Tammy McLeod as FFLOS US 1796Source: firetower.org
  18. 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.

The Former Fire Lookout Sites register places the Cummins Peak lookout in Lane County, inside the Siuslaw National Forest.1 A 1923 newspaper item, quoted by the Forest Lookouts site, put the mountain in Lincoln County, not far from Waldport.2 The sources disagree on the county.1,2

A Siuslaw National Forest examiner said in 1923 that the peak was an ideal spot for a permanent lookout station.2 A new lookout house was going up in 1925, and a January 1926 newspaper item says one had been built at a cost of $924.2 The register dates the first lookout, a D-6 cupola, to the 1920s.1

Staff were posted on the peak in the mid-1920s and again in the early 1930s.2 A 1924 newspaper item describes one man who spent a summer on the peak with only a rough log roof for shelter.2 In 1930 the Forest Lookouts site names Ed Weise as the lookout man, and in 1932 Therone Farris and Verus Dahlin shared the season.2

The register says the cupola was replaced by an L-4 cab in 1932, and that the cab went onto a short tower in 1943.1 Firelookout.com dates the L-4 cab to 1934.3 For 1954 the sources differ. The register says a 41-foot treated timber tower was built that year.1 The Forest Lookouts site cites a memo that put the cost of moving the Blodgett Peak lookout to this site at an estimated $5,200.2 Firelookout.com says the tower was moved from Blodgett Peak.3

The Forest Lookouts site says the lookout was activated on March 7, 1942, for the Eugene Filter Center.2 Its last staffed year was 1971.2 In 1972 it served as an emergency post and was sold for salvage.2 The register says it was removed in 1975, while the Forest Lookouts site gives c.1975.1,2

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains at the site today, or whether the public may go there. Anyone planning a visit should check with the Siuslaw National Forest first.

  1. Cummins Peak Lookout Site (Lane County), Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/cummins-peak-lookout-site-lane-county/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Cummins Peak - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/cummins-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Cummins Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/cumminspeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Cummins Peak Lookout 1954
Cummins Peak Lookout 1954 (1954)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cummins Peak Lookout 1920's - 1932
Cummins Peak Lookout 1920's - 1932 (1920)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cummins Peak Lookout 1954 - 1970's
Cummins Peak Lookout 1954 - 1970's (1954)Photo: Terry Weigel, Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cummins Peak Lookout 1943 - 1954
Cummins Peak Lookout 1943 - 1954 (1943)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cummins Peak Lookout site 2010
Cummins Peak Lookout site 2010 (2010)Photo: Howard Verschoor, 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, what it is built of, 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: 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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