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Fire lookout · Crook County, Oregon

Hash Rock Lookout Site

Ochoco NF lookout 17 miles NE of Prineville: a 1932 crow's nest, a 1935 25-foot wooden L-5 tower, gone by 1968; no source describes the site now.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower gone by 1968 per the registry; firelookout.com also gives 1968

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
Trail
No source describes the site today or whether it is open to the public

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower25-foot wooden tower, L-5 design (1935), replacing a 1932 crow's nestThe design: L-5
Built of
Wood
Built
1932
Height
25 ft (7.6 m)
Elevation
5,829 ft (1,777 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Ochoco National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Crook County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.48260, −120.61434
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-hash-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 3.7 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. 1920 StaffedWayne Anderson named primary lookout man, to work Hash Rock and Tamarack Point in turn (Crook County Journal, July 1920, as quoted on the Rex's page)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1921 StaffedNorman Harrison split duties between Hash Rock and Tamarack PointSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1927 StaffedSam Warg listed as lookout for Hash Rock and Tamarack PointSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1928 EventLightning hit three trees on Hash Rock, including the tree that held the phone (The Ochoconian, June 1928)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1932 BuiltCrow's nest set up on Hash RockSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  6. 1932 FireLookout sighted a fire on Grizzly Mountain; the Forest Service sent 40 men within the hour (Central Oregonian, August 1932)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1935 Replaced by a new structureCrow's nest replaced with a 25-foot wooden tower; firelookout.com calls it an L-5 designSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1935 and 1968
  9. 1968 RemovedTower gone by 1968Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. No record between 1968 and 2011
  11. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites Register June 23, 2011; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  12. 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.

Hash Rock sits in the Ochoco National Forest, about 17 miles northeast of Prineville in Crook County, Oregon.1 The site was staffed by 1920.2 In July of that year the Crook County Journal reported that Wayne Anderson of Prineville had become primary lookout man, to work Hash Rock and Tamarack Point in turn.2

A crow's nest was set up on the site in 1932.3,1 The registry says a 25-foot wooden tower replaced it in 1935.3 firelookout.com calls that tower an L-5 design.1

In 1921 Norman Harrison split duty between Hash Rock and Tamarack Point, and in 1927 Sam Warg was listed as lookout for both.2 In June 1928 lightning hit three trees on Hash Rock, including the one that held the phone.2 In August 1932 the Central Oregonian, as quoted on a lookout history page, reported that the Hash Rock lookout had sighted a fire on Grizzly Mountain.2 The Forest Service sent 40 men to the fire in under an hour.2

The tower was no longer there by 1968, a date both the registry and firelookout.com give.3,1 The site was added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites Register on June 23, 2011.3

No source we read describes what remains at the site now. The registry has a 2005 photo of the site, but its caption says nothing more about it.3 No source we read says whether the public can reach the site.

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

Photos

Hash Rock Lookout 1935 - 1968
Hash Rock Lookout 1935 - 1968 (1935)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Hash Rock Lookout 1932 - 1935
Hash Rock Lookout 1932 - 1935 (1932)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Hash Rock Lookout site 2005
Hash Rock Lookout site 2005 (2005)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via 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, 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, staffing, 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.