FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lane County, Oregon

Fairview Peak Lookout

Lane County lookout in the Umpqua National Forest: a 1912 cabin, a 1936 tower, and the present 53-ft R-6 tower of 1972. Rental and current access are disputed.

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. Forest Service page (updated 2026-08-10) lists overnight rental by reservation and marks the site open; Travel Oregon says temporarily closed for infrastructure repair; a 2026 visitor found the road gated.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
The final road is steep, rocky and rough, and high-clearance vehicles are recommended. A 2026 visitor found the road gated and walked up.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerPresent 53-ft timber tower with a one-room 15x15-ft R-6 cabThe designs: R-6, L-4, D-6
Built of
Not recorded
Height
53 ft (16.2 m)
Elevation
5,857 ft (1,785 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Lane County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.58568, −122.65315
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-fairview-peak

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. 1912 BuiltObserver's cabin on the summit; firelookout.com and Every Lookout in Oregon both date it to 1912Sources: firelookout.com, cherylhill.net
  2. 1914 BuiltOpen-air alidade towerSource: nhlr.org
  3. 1921 BuiltD-6 cupola cab ($876.99 per register); a 1921 newspaper item reports it completed; 1924 in two other historiesSources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1921 and 1936
  5. 1936 BuiltTower with L-4 cab; height given as 30 ft (register), 20 ft (two sites), 29 ft (third history)Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1936 and 1964
  7. 1964 EventAir Force gap filler radar station used the site from the late 1950s until 1964Sources: nhlr.org, theroamingcivic.com
  8. 1972 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  9. 1972 Replaced by a new structurePresent 53-ft tower with R-6 cab replaced the 1936 towerSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  10. No record between 1972 and 2003
  11. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered March 1, 2003Source: nhlr.org
  12. 2015 Event2026 visit report says the tower left the rental program in 2015 due to structural issues; a 2022 trip report says it was rented until pulled for the 2022 seasonSources: cherylhill.net, theroamingcivic.com
  13. 2022 RestoredRepairs in 2022 per the 2026 visit report; the 2022 trip report notes an apparent new superstructureSources: cherylhill.net, theroamingcivic.com
  14. 2024 Last staffedLast staffed season per the 2026 visit report, which relies on a TikTok user's account of that season; the same account also mentions a few days of staffing in July 2025Source: cherylhill.net
  15. 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.

Fairview Peak sits in the Umpqua National Forest in Lane County, Oregon, in the Bohemia Mining District southeast of Eugene.1 A cabin went up on the summit in 1912,2,3 and an open-air alidade tower followed in 1914.1

The cupola that came next is where the sources part ways. The register dates it to 1921, and a 1921 newspaper item reported that a lookout house had just been completed on the summit.1,4 Two other histories give 1924 instead.2,3 The tower added in 1936 is also described three ways: 30 feet by the register, 20 feet by two other sites, and 29 feet by a third history.1,2,3,4

Staffing is documented only in patches. A June 1931 item in The Sentinel said a Forest Service employee staffed the tower for about three months, or through the fire season.4 In 1934 Rex Wheeler was the summer lookout, and his wife was with him.4 From the late 1950s until 1964, an Air Force gap filler radar station used the site.1,5

The present 53-foot tower with an R-6 cab was built in 1972 to replace the 1936 tower.1,2 Visitors could once stay in the 1921 cupola, which later became a storage building.1 The tower still stands.3

The register lists the lookout as available for rental, and the Forest Service's current page offers overnight stays for a fee.1,6

Sources disagree on when the rental program ended. A 2022 trip report said the lookout had been rented for years and was pulled into active duty for the 2022 fire season,5 while a 2026 visit report says it was taken off the rental program in 2015 because of structural issues.3 Both describe work on the tower around 2022: the trip report says the lookout appears to have received a new superstructure,5 and the 2026 report places the repairs in 2022.3

A visitor on August 30, 2026 found the tower not staffed that season and the road gated.3 The same account says 2024 was the last staffed season, citing a TikTok user's record of that season.3 It also reports a few days of staffing in July 2025, cut short when the contract was not renewed.3

The Forest Service page, last updated August 10, 2026, marks the site as open.6 Travel Oregon, however, says it is temporarily closed for critical infrastructure repair.7 The last mile of road is steep, rocky and rough, and high-clearance vehicles are strongly recommended.6 Because the listings disagree, check with the North Umpqua Ranger Station before going.6 Until the Forest Service confirms the tower is open to visitors, do not climb it.

  1. Fairview Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/fairview-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Fairview Peak Fire Lookout Tower, Fire Lookout, https://www.firelookout.com/or/fairviewpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Fairview Peak, Every Lookout in Oregon, https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/2026/08/30/fairview-peak/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Fairview Peak, Rex's Forest Fire Lookout Page, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/fairview-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Fairview Peak L.O., The Roaming Civic, https://theroamingcivic.com/2022/07/22/fairview-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  6. Fairview Peak Lookout, Umpqua National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/umpqua/recreation/fairview-peak-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  7. Fairview Peak Lookout Tower, Travel Oregon, https://traveloregon.com/things-to-do/destinations/parks-forests-wildlife-areas/fairview-peak-lookout-tower/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Fairview Peak Lookout - 2007
Fairview Peak Lookout - 2007 (2007)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Fairview Peak Lookout
Photo: Danielle Sullivan, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Fairview Peak in 1935
Fairview Peak in 1935 (1935)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, John McWade, and Ryon Kershner, via firelookout.com · source
Fairview Peak in 1958
Fairview Peak in 1958 (1958)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, John McWade, and Ryon Kershner, via firelookout.com · source
Fairview Peak in 1972
Fairview Peak in 1972 (1972)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, John McWade, and Ryon Kershner, via firelookout.com · source
Fairview Peak L.O.
Fairview Peak L.OPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum, John McWade, and Ryon Kershner, 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: 1972
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1912
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1972

    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, 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, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. 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
  6. 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
  7. 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

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