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Fire lookout · Grant County, Oregon

Hardscrabble Mountain Lookout Site

Also known as Hardscrabble Ridge (Mountain)

Ochoco NF lookout in Grant County: an L-4 tower built in 1939, reported as 40 or 50 feet, removed or destroyed in 1968.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1968 per the register; Rex's page says destroyed that year; no description of the site today found

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 towertreated timber L-4 towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1939
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
5,115 ft (1,559 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Ochoco National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Grant County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.21749, −119.59268
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-hardscrabble-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 3.7 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. 1939 Built40-foot treated timber L-4 tower per the register and Rex's page; a 1939 Ochoco history entry quoted by the Forest Lookouts page lists a 50-foot tower and house; a May 1939 memo mentions a one-car garage and woodshedSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  2. 1950 EventBurglars broke into the lookout station in October 1950 and took two lanterns; rangers were asked to check other lookoutsSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. No record between 1950 and 1968
  4. 1968 RemovedRegister says removed in 1968; Rex's page says destroyed that yearSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1968 and 2011
  6. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register on June 23, 2011Source: firetower.org
  7. 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.

Hardscrabble Mountain, also called Hardscrabble Ridge, is in the Ochoco National Forest of Grant County, Oregon.1

A lookout went up there in 1939.2,3 The register and Rex's page describe a 40-foot treated timber L-4 tower.2,3 A 1939 Ochoco history entry, quoted on the Forest Lookouts page, instead names a 50-foot tower and house as that year's major projects, so the sources disagree on height.1 A May 1939 memo also mentions a one-car garage and woodshed for the lookout.1

In October 1950 burglars broke into the station and took two lanterns. Rangers were also asked to look in on other lookouts in case of similar break-ins.1

The register says the tower was removed in 1968.2 Rex's page says it was destroyed that year.3 The Oregon index lists the site as a gone tower.4

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains at the site today, or whether visitors can reach it.

  1. Hardscrabble Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/hardscrabble-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Hardscrabble Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, Forest Fire Lookout Association, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/hardscrabble-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Hardscrabble Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://www.firelookout.com/or/hardscrabblemtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Oregon Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Hardscrabble Mountain Lookout 1942
Hardscrabble Mountain Lookout 1942 (1942)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Hardscrabble Mountain Lookout site
Hardscrabble Mountain Lookout sitePhoto: Debbie Sankey Davenport, Howard Verschoor 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, what it is built of, 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: 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.