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Fire lookout · Grant County, Oregon

Desolation Butte Lookout

The present R-6 flat-top cab on a 67-foot timber tower dates from 1961, replacing a 1923 cabin on a 50-foot steel tower; it is 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. Lookout Road (Forest Road 10103) runs to the summit. Camping near the tower needs permission from the staffed lookout.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Route is accessible by a high-clearance vehicle; no designated camping along the route.
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 flat-top cab on a 67-foot open timber towerCab: R-6; tower: Aermotor
Built of
Wood
Height
67 ft (20.4 m)
Elevation
7,034 ft (2,144 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Umatilla National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Grant County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.85057, −118.66454
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-desolation-butte

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1918 EventSite possibly first established in 1918, per firelookout.com (possibly 1918) and a trail guide (initially established 1918).Sources: firelookout.com, trailsoffroad.com
  2. 1923 BuiltFirst lookout: a 7x7 cabin on a 50-foot open steel tower.Sources: firelookout.com, nhlr.org, trailsoffroad.com
  3. No record between 1923 and 1961
  4. 1961 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  5. 1961 Replaced by a new structurePresent R-6 cab on a 67-foot open timber tower replaced the 1923 cabin.Sources: firelookout.com, nhlr.org, trailsoffroad.com
  6. No record between 1961 and 2022
  7. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterAdded to the National Historic Lookout Register, June 22, 2022.Source: nhlr.org
  8. 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.

Desolation Butte has had a fire lookout since 1923, and possibly since 1918.1,2 The register's description of that first building is a 7x7 cabin raised on a steel tower 50 feet tall.3

The lookout that stands now went up in 1961 to replace it.3 Its cab follows the Forest Service R-6 flat-top design and sits atop an open timber tower 67 feet high.3,1

Firelookout.com and a trail guide both say someone staffs the tower each summer.1,2 Firelookout.com also lists known lookout personnel going back to 1916.1

The register gives the summit as 7,034 feet and lists the lookout as registered on June 22, 2022.3

The road to the top is Lookout Road, also numbered Forest Road 10103, and the trail guide says a high-clearance vehicle can make the trip.2 Camping near the tower requires asking the staffed lookout first.2 A 2023 trip report notes that reaching the butte is not a quick trip.4

The lookout is listed as active and standing.4 It sits in the Umatilla National Forest.2

  1. Desolation Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/desolationbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Desolation Butte Lookout, Trails Off Road, https://www.trailsoffroad.com/US/oregon/scout-routes/4085-desolation-butte-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Desolation Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/desolation-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Desolation Butte L.O., The Roaming Civic, https://theroamingcivic.com/2023/07/10/desolation-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Desolation Butte Lookout - 2008
Desolation Butte Lookout - 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Desolation Butte Lookouts - 1961
Desolation Butte Lookouts - 1961 (1961)Photo: US Forest Service, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Desolation Butte Lookout
Photo: US Forest Service, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Desolation Butte in 1923
Desolation Butte in 1923 (1923)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the U.S. Forest Service, Frank Henrikson, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Desolation Butte in the 1930s
Desolation Butte in the 1930s (1930)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the U.S. Forest Service, Frank Henrikson, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Desolation Butte in 1961
Desolation Butte in 1961 (1961)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the U.S. Forest Service, Frank Henrikson, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Desolation Butte in 1961
Desolation Butte in 1961 (1961)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the U.S. Forest Service, Frank Henrikson, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Desolation Butte in 1961
Desolation Butte in 1961 (1961)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the U.S. Forest Service, Frank Henrikson, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Desolation Butte in the 1960's
Desolation Butte in the 1960's (1960)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the U.S. Forest Service, Frank Henrikson, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Desolation Butte in 2000
Desolation Butte in 2000 (2000)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the U.S. Forest Service, Frank Henrikson, and Rex Kamstra, 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: 1961
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1923
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1961

    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, what it is built of, 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: design, 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) 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, 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

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