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Fire lookout · Douglas County, Oregon

Hills Peak Lookout Site

Douglas County, OR: 1923 cabin, 1935 L-5 cab, removed or destroyed in 1966; no source found that describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed (firetower.org) or destroyed (firelookout.com) in 1966; no source describes 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 cabL-5 cab, described as a 10 x 10 ground cabinThe design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1923
Height
Unknown
Elevation
6,048 ft (1,843 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Willamette National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Douglas County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.40587, −122.19017
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-hills-peak

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.

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. 1923 BuiltCabin built on the summitSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1928 EventNewspaper item: work to start soon on a line to the peak, where a secondary lookout was to be establishedSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1933 EventPanorama photos takenSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1935 Replaced by a new structureL-5 cab replaced the cabinSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1935 and 1966
  6. 1966 RemovedFiretower.org says removed; firelookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1966 and 2011
  8. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered February 10, 2011 as US 839, OR 224Source: firetower.org
  9. 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.

Hills Peak is a former lookout site in Douglas County, Oregon, about 27 miles southeast of Oakridge.1,2 The site is administered by the U.S. Forest Service.1 A cabin was built on the summit in 1923.1,2 A 1928 newspaper item reported that a line to the peak was about to be built, and that a secondary lookout was planned there.3 Panoramic photographs were taken from the site in August 1933.3 In 1935 the cabin was replaced with an L-5 cab, which Rex's page describes as a 10 by 10 ground cabin.1,2,3

The cab came down in 1966. Firetower.org says it was removed that year, while firelookout.com says it was destroyed.1,2 Rex's page lists the site as removed but gives no date.3

The Former Fire Lookout Sites Register added the site in February 2011.1 None of the sources we read describes what, if anything, remains there now, or whether the public can reach it. Anyone planning a trip should check with the Willamette National Forest first.3

  1. Hills Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/hills-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Hills Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/hillspeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Hills Peak - Forest Lookouts, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/hills-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Hills Peak Lookout Site
Photo: 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, 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: what it is built of, design, 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, 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.