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Fire lookout · Clackamas County, Oregon

High Camp Lookout Site

Clackamas County, OR ODF lookout: 1914 crow's nest, 1951 tower, staffed into the 1980s, removed 2001; no source describes what remains today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Superstructure too rotten to save; removed in 2001. No source describes the site now.

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 tower with L-4 cab and a ground cabin for living quarters (1951)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1914
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
4,407 ft (1,343 m)
Agency
Oregon Department of Forestry
Land
Unknown
Location
Clackamas County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.00790, −122.33637
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-high-camp

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 3.6 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. 1914 BuiltTree crow's nest built; the first structure on the siteSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1914 FireFire spotted from the station, 26 miles from a settlementSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1914 EventEight miles of telephone line built to the lookout; the 1915 State Forester report says the permanent lookout at High Camp gave excellent resultsSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1914 First staffedMen of the Clackamas-Marion Fire Patrol Association working from the High Camp lookout station (Morning Oregonian, August 1914)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1919 FirePatrol airplane located a fire and dropped a message that fell within a few feet of the towerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1928 StaffedEd Woodworth in charge of the lookout station during the summerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1939 EventRoad access: 1.7-mile extension from the end of a logging roadSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1951 BuiltTower with L-4 cab built; the 1951-52 district reports say 100 feet, the registers say 90 feetSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1955 AlteredLookout painted; metal roof replaced with cedar shinglesSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1957 EventU.S. Geological Survey station description: not occupiedSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. No record between 1957 and 2001
  12. 2001 DestroyedSuperstructure too rotten to salvage; taken down and listed as destroyed in 2001Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  13. 2001 Removed'Removed' field on FFLOS detail page: "2001".Source: FFLOS register entry
  14. No record between 2001 and 2019
  15. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered September 17, 2019 as FFLOS US 1754Source: firetower.org
  16. 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.

High Camp is a site in Clackamas County, Oregon, at about 4,407 feet, roughly 18 miles south of Estacada.1,2 The register lists the Oregon Department of Forestry as administrator.1

The site's history starts in 1914. The earliest structure was a tree crow's nest from that year.1 In August 1914 the Morning Oregonian reported that men from the Clackamas-Marion Fire Patrol Association, working from the High Camp lookout station, had spotted a fire that was 26 miles from a settlement.3 That season eight miles of telephone line were built to the lookout, and a 1915 State Forester report said the permanent lookout at High Camp gave excellent results.3

In August 1919 a patrol airplane located a fire, and a message it dropped fell within a few feet of the tower. Ed Woodworth was in charge of the lookout then.3 Woodworth's family stayed with him at the station in several 1920s summers, and he was in charge again in 1928.3 A 1939 district report says a 1.7-mile extension of a logging road gave the lookout road access.3

The new tower went up in 1951.1,2 The district's 1951 report lists a 14-by-14 cab atop a 100-foot tower, and its 1952 report describes a wood tower with living quarters in the cab.3 The two registers give 90 feet instead, with an L-4 cab and a ground cabin for living quarters.1,2 A 1957 U.S. Geological Survey description of the station lists it as not occupied.3 Firelookout.com says the lookout was staffed into the 1980s before it was condemned.2

The Oregon chapter of the Forest Fire Lookout Association salvaged parts from the cab.2 Rot ruled out saving the superstructure, which came down in 2001.1,2

The register gives September 17, 2019 as the registration date.1 We found no source that describes what, if anything, remains at High Camp today, or whether visitors can reach it.

  1. High Camp Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/high-camp-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. High Camp Fire Lookout Tower, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://www.firelookout.com/or/highcamp.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. High Camp - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Oregon Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/high-camp.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of High Camp Lookout Site
Photo: Howard Verschoor, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
High Camp Tree Lookout
High Camp Tree LookoutPhoto: Fire Lookout Museum, 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, 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

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