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Fire lookout · Linn County, Oregon

High Deck Lookout Site

Also known as High Deck (Hurricane Deck)

Linn County, OR lookout site on High Deck (Hurricane Deck) first manned in 1907; 1947 L-4 cab removed 1972; no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. L-4 cab removed in 1972; no source describes what remains on the site today

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
Ground-level cabPlatform tower and tent (1907), later a cabin; L-4 standard 14 x 14 cab with cement foundation and catwalk, built 1947The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1907
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,566 ft (1,087 m)
Agency
Linn County Fire Patrol association (Linn FPA)
Land
Unknown
Location
Linn County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.43155, −122.45992
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-high-deck

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

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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. 1907 BuiltPlatform tower and tent, per the register; Forest Lookouts repeats the 1907 dateSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1907 First staffedForest Lookouts calls it the first lookout manned in that part of OregonSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1912 FireTwo lightning fires seen from the lookout after dark; the valley patrolman was called by telephone and the fires were put outSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1912 StaffedPatrolman stationed at the lookout in August 1912Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1919 BuiltCupola-style lookout house, per Forest Lookouts; the register dates cabin living quarters to 1920 insteadSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1920 AlteredCabin living quarters added, per the Former Fire Lookout Sites registerSource: firetower.org
  7. 1931 FireHill Fire Patrol fire near Sodaville, reported from Hurricane Deck and Green Peter lookouts, put out before much damageSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1931 StaffedJ.A. Duncan at the lookout for the summerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1932 StaffedJ.A. Duncan back at the lookout for the seasonSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1934 EventSpring went dry; nearest water at Cascadia; a pack horse was expected to be neededSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1934 StaffedFay Miller, keeper for the Hill Fire Patrol, taken ill in September and helped down the trailSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  12. 1947 Replaced by a new structureOld lookout unusable; new 14 x 14 standard L-4 cab with full cement foundation and catwalkSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  13. No record between 1947 and 1972
  14. 1972 RemovedCab removedSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  15. No record between 1972 and 2011
  16. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: May 8, 2011Source: FFLOS register entry
  17. 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 Deck, also called Hurricane Deck, is a summit in Linn County, Oregon, about 14 miles east of Sweet Home.1,2,3 The Linn County Fire Patrol association administered the lookout.1,2

The Former Fire Lookout Sites entry says the site began in 1907 with a platform tower and a tent, and that cabin living quarters were added in 1920.1 Forest Lookouts dates a cupola-style lookout house to 1919, so the two sources disagree on when the first house went up.2

M.J. Nye, agent for the Hill interests in Linn County, organized fire protection in the area in 1904 and set up the lookout three years later.2 Forest Lookouts says High Deck was the first lookout manned in that part of Oregon, and that the station was manned each year after that.2

J.A. Duncan spent the summer of 1931 at the lookout and returned for the 1932 season.2 In September 1934, Fay Miller, the keeper for the Hill Fire Patrol, fell ill and had to be helped down a three-mile trail to a car bound for a Lebanon hospital.2

In August 1912 two lightning fires were seen from the lookout after dark, and the patrolman there called the valley patrolman by telephone, and the fires were put out.2 In August 1931 the Hill Fire Patrol answered a call near Sodaville, reported from the Hurricane Deck and Green Peter lookouts, and put out a fire before it did much damage.2 A 1934 field report said the spring had gone dry, that the nearest water was at Cascadia, and that Mr. Nye expected to need a pack horse to carry water up.2

By 1947 the old lookout was no longer usable. That year a replacement 14-by-14-foot standard cab went up, set on a cement foundation with a catwalk, and Forest Service pack mules helped haul the materials.2 The Forest Log reported the cabin complete that November.2 The Former Fire Lookout Sites entry dates this L-4 cab to 1947.1

The cab was removed in 1972.1,2 Firelookout.com marks the site "R.I.P. 1947-1972".3

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains on the summit today, or whether visitors may go there. A trailhead guide for the Cascadia Day Use Area gives directions that mention High Deck Road, but it says nothing about the old lookout.4 Ask the Linn County Fire Patrol association about access before you go.

  1. High Deck Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/high-deck-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. High Deck - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (oregonlookouts.weebly.com), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/high-deck.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. High Deck Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/highdeck.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Cascadia Day Use Area Trailhead, Oregon Hikers, https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Cascadia_Day_Use_Area_Trailhead (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of High Deck 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, 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: 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, status, agency, staffing, 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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