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Fire lookout · Jefferson County, Oregon

Fly Lake Lookout Site

Jefferson Co., OR: tree-platform lookout (1930/1934) with a tower from 1948 or 1951, removed in 1965; the platform tree was still standing in the 1980s.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed 1965; tree platform still standing in the 1980s, and the Forest Service later decided to remove it

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 towerTree platform (1930 or 1934); tower either 53 ft (1948, Bend Bulletin) or 40-ft wooden L-4 (1951, FFLOS and Fire Lookout)The design: L-4 sources disagree
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1930
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
3,020 ft (921 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Deschutes National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Jefferson County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.53628, −121.43336
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-fly-lake

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.

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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. 1930 BuiltTree platform built (Former Fire Lookout Sites, Fire Lookout); Forest Lookouts gives 1934Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1934 BuiltTree with platform established as a secondary lookout point (Forest Lookouts)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1941 First staffedTower built in a tree with a tent at its foot; patrolled by Allen Madsen of Camp Sherman (Bend Bulletin, June 25, 1941)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1946 StaffedPaul Striebel was fireman; lookout in the top of a 73-foot treeSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1948 Built53-foot lookout tower erected near Fly Lake; first lookout Paul Striebel (Bend Bulletin, Aug 25, 1948)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1951 Replaced by a new structure40-foot wooden L-4 tower replaced the tree platform (FFLOS and Fire Lookout)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. 1953 StaffedMr. and Mrs. Joseph Burns on duty (Bend Bulletin, June 17, 1953)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1965 RemovedTower removedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  9. 1965 Last staffedDavid Snow was lookout-fireman; last year the lookout was staffedSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1968 EventState highway contract for five miles of road to Fly Lake Lookout; Forest Service contract for the remaining four miles, starting at the lookout (April 17, 1968)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. No record between 1968 and 2010
  12. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered August 24, 2010; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  13. 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 Fly Lake lookout stood in Jefferson County, Oregon, on the Deschutes National Forest, about 17 miles north-northeast of Sisters.1 Its first lookout was a tree platform. The Former Fire Lookout Sites register and the Fire Lookout page date it to 1930, while the Forest Lookouts page gives 1934 for a tree with a platform in its top, as a secondary lookout point.2,1,3

In June 1941 the Bend Bulletin reported a new position at Fly Lake, with a tower built in a tree and a tent at its foot for living quarters.3 Allen Madsen of Camp Sherman patrolled it, and was moved to the Black Butte lookout that August.3

A 1948 Bend Bulletin item reported a new 53-foot lookout tower near Fly Lake, with Paul Striebel as its first lookout (the item spells it Streibel).3 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register and the Fire Lookout page instead give a 40-foot wooden tower erected in 1951.2,1 The sources disagree on the date and height of the tower.

Paul Striebel was the fireman at Fly Lake in 1946, when the lookout sat in the top of a 73-foot tree.3 In June 1953 Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Burns were on duty at the station.3 David Snow was the lookout-fireman in 1965, the last year the lookout was staffed.3

The Former Fire Lookout Sites register and the Fire Lookout page both say the tower was removed in 1965.2,1 The tree platform was still standing in the 1980s.2 The register says the Forest Service later decided it needed to remove the old platform tree, which had become an attractive nuisance.2

In 1968 the state highway department held a contract for five miles of road to Fly Lake Lookout, and the remaining four miles were under a Forest Service contract that started at the lookout.3 Nothing we read describes what remains of the site today, and we found no current information about access.

  1. Fly Lake Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/flylake.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Fly Lake Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/fly-lake-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Fly Lake - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/fly-lake.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Fly Lake Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Fly Lake Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Fly Lake Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Fly Lake Lookout Site
Photo: 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: 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

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