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Fire lookout · Douglas County, Oregon

Grasshopper Mountain Lookout Site

Umpqua NF lookout: camp 1912, cupola 1925, CCC L-4 cab 1933, R-6 cab 1958, removed 1977; four concrete footings reported in 2018, on a wilderness trail.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1977 per the registry and two other pages (firelookout.com says destroyed); four concrete footings reported in 2018

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Reached by Forest Service Trail #1580 from Grasshopper Trail #1574 via Acker Divide Trailhead; inside Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness, wilderness restrictions apply

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Trail ends at the former lookout site with 800-foot cliffs and views of Cliff and Buckeye Lakes; no water available on the trail; snow cover mid-fall to mid-spring

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 flat cab (1958-1977); earlier D-6 cupola (1925) and L-4 cab (1933)The designs: L-4, R-6, D-6
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1925
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
5,522 ft (1,683 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Umpqua National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Douglas County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.05107, −122.51690
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-grasshopper-mountain

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 3.5 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. 1912 EventCamp set up at the site before any cupola cabinSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1917 StaffedVictor Boyd left for Tiller to be stationed at the Grasshopper ranger lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1925 BuiltD-6 cupola lookout houseSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, cherylhill.net
  4. 1927 FireLookout-fireman Walter Lerwell reported the first fire at 4 p.m. and had it under control before night (Roseburg News-Review, as quoted on Forest Lookouts)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1933 BuiltL-4 cab on a round timber tower about 10 ft tall, built by the CCC; the new lookout was meant to replace the old oneSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, cherylhill.net
  6. No record between 1933 and 1958
  7. 1958 Replaced by a new structurePrefabricated R-6 flat cab replaced the L-4 cab; about 3,800 lb of materials flown in by helicopterSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1958 StaffedEuberto Newton of Tiller lived in a tent about a month while the old house was torn downSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1962 StaffedRoger E. Lamb, a college student, stationed at Grasshopper Mountain for the summerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1962 and 1977
  11. 1977 RemovedRemoved per the registry, Forest Lookouts and the 2018 blog; firelookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  12. No record between 1977 and 2010
  13. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register on December 19, 2010Source: firetower.org
  14. 2018 EventHike report counts four concrete footings remaining at the topSource: cherylhill.net
  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.

Grasshopper Mountain sits in the Umpqua National Forest in Douglas County, Oregon, about 33 miles northeast of Tiller.1 A camp was set up there in 1912, and a cupola cabin was built in 1925.2,3

In 1933 the Civilian Conservation Corps built an L-4 cab on a round timber tower about ten feet tall.1,3 A 1933 newspaper item said the new lookout would replace the old one.1 In 1958 the Forest Service replaced that cab with a prefabricated R-6 flat cab.2,1 A helicopter carried segments of the prefabricated house to the top, and 3,800 pounds of building materials were delivered to the summit.1

Victor Boyd left for Tiller in 1917 to be stationed at the lookout, and Euberto Newton of Tiller lived in a tent for about a month in 1958 while the old house was torn down.1 In July 1927 lookout-fireman Walter Lerwell reported the first fire at 4 p.m. and had it under control by nightfall, according to a Roseburg News-Review item quoted on the Forest Lookouts page.1

The lookout came down in 1977.2,1,3 The registry, the Forest Lookouts page and a 2018 hike report all say it was removed, but firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year.2,4,1,3

The most recent account of what remains on the summit that we found is a 2018 hike report. It reports four concrete footings at the top, with a cedar tree grown up beside one of them.3 The Forest Service describes Trail #1580 as passing through meadows to the former lookout, which lies inside the Rogue-Umpqua Divide Wilderness.5 The trail is reached from Grasshopper Trail #1574 via the Acker Divide Trailhead, and wilderness restrictions apply.5 No water is available on the trail, and expect snow cover from mid-fall through mid-spring.5 The trail stops at 800-foot cliffs, where Cliff and Buckeye Lakes come into view.5 We found no later description of what remains on the summit.

  1. Grasshopper - Forest Lookouts, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/grasshopper.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Grasshopper Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/grasshopper-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Grasshopper Mountain, Just Peachy (hike report blog), https://cherylhill.net/blog/2018/07/13/grasshopper-mountain/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Grasshopper Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/grasshopper63.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Grasshopper Mountain Trail #1580, U.S. Forest Service, Umpqua National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/umpqua/recreation/trails/grasshopper-mountain-trail (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

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

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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: 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, 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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