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Fire lookout · Douglas County, Oregon

Diamond Rock Lookout Site

Umpqua NF lookout near Tiller, Oregon: L-4 cab built 1940 on Diamond Rock, abandoned 1941, removed 1968 (or 1969); no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1968 per the register; firelookout.com says destroyed 1968; Rex's page lists 1969

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 cab14 x 14 ft L-4 cab (Rex's page); register describes a ground L-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1940
Height
120 ft (36.6 m)
Elevation
4,200 ft (1,280 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Umpqua National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Douglas County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.80585, −122.91984
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-diamond-rock

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. 1929 StaffedEddie Hamlin, the lookout, handled a fire in a cabin near the station (Glendale Log item quoted on Rex's page)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1930 EventSources disagree on the first structure: a rag camp (register) or an Aladdin gable-roofed lookout house (Rex's page)Sources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1939 Replaced by a new structureOld station dismantled to make room for a new building (News-Review item on Rex's page)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1940 BuiltL-4 cab built; all three sources date it to 1940Sources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  5. 1941 AbandonedSite abandonedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  6. 1942 EventUsed as an Air Warning Service observation station, staffed by Alvia Wetherell and Elva ChurchSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1944 FireSmall lightning fire about a quarter mile from the lookout; stopped burning before it was investigated at daylightSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1944 and 1959
  9. 1959 StaffedRestaffed 18 years after 1941 per the register (year derived from the stated interval)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. 1962 StaffedGeorge Hunt on duty during an August 1962 earthquake; no damage to the lookout reportedSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1968 RemovedRemoved (register) or destroyed (firelookout.com) in 1968Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  12. 1969 RemovedRex's page lists removal in 1969; conflicts with 1968Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  13. No record between 1969 and 2010
  14. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered December 10, 2010Source: firetower.org
  15. 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.

Diamond Rock stands in the Umpqua National Forest, about eight miles southeast of Tiller in Douglas County, Oregon.1,2 A lookout was already at work there in August 1929, when a fire in a cabin near the station was handled by Eddie Hamlin.2

The sources disagree about the first structure. The register calls the 1930 setup a rag camp.1 Rex's Fire Lookout Page says an Aladdin gable-roofed lookout house was built that year.2 In 1939 Bruce Ferguson and Ermel Chaney took apart the old station to make room for a new building.2 All three sources date the new L-4 cab to 1940.1,2,3

The register says the cab stood on a 100-foot rock pillar.1 Rex's page describes a 14-by-14-foot cab on five-foot concrete pillars, and it puts the rock at 120 feet high.2

Lookouts worked the rock through the 1930s and 1940s. Ferguson was stationed there in 1935, and John Dean was on duty in 1941.2 In 1942 the lookout served as an Air Warning Service observation station, staffed by Alvia Wetherell and Elva Church.2

In July 1944 a small lightning fire started about a quarter mile from the lookout. Mrs. Wetherall waited for daylight to look for it, and by then it had stopped burning.2 In August 1962 an earthquake shook the rock while George Hunt was on duty. Visitors felt it on the catwalk, and the News-Review reported no damage to the lookout.2

The register says the site was abandoned in 1941 and restaffed eighteen years later.1 Firelookout.com says the same.3 Both the register and firelookout.com date the tower's removal to 1968, and firelookout.com calls it destroyed.1,3 Rex's page lists the removal in 1969, so the year is not settled.2

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains on the rock today. The register has a photo captioned "Diamond Rock Lookout site 2008," but the caption does not say what it shows.1 We found nothing on current access, so check with the Umpqua National Forest before planning a trip.

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

Photos

Diamond Rock Lookout 1941
Diamond Rock Lookout 1941 (1941)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Diamond Rock Lookout 1930
Diamond Rock Lookout 1930 (1930)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Diamond Rock Lookout 1935
Diamond Rock Lookout 1935 (1935)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Diamond Rock Lookout site 2008
Diamond Rock Lookout site 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow 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.

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, 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, 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.