FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Josephine County, Oregon

Hobson Horn Lookout Site

Siskiyou NF lookout in Josephine County, Oregon: a 20-foot timber L-4 tower erected in 1939-40, last used for emergencies in the 1970s, now gone.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed or destroyed after its last emergency use in the 1970s; sources differ on which, and none describes what remains.

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
The Hobson Horn Trail drops about 18 miles to the Illinois River; a 2020 report found parts of it choked with brush. No source says whether the site is open to visitors.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower20-foot treated timber L-4 tower, with a cabin built on it (per the Siskiyou history quoted by Forest Lookouts)The design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1939
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
4,710 ft (1,436 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Siskiyou National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Josephine County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.55241, −123.78367
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-hobson-horn

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. 1935 EventRag camp set up on the site; the 20-foot tower later replaced itSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1936 EventPanorama photographs taken August 25, 1936Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1939 Built20-foot creosoted timber tower erected with E.R.A. labor, per the Siskiyou history quoted by Forest LookoutsSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1940 BuiltRegister gives 1940 as the build year of the tower; the Siskiyou history says a cabin was built on the tower in 1940Sources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1941 StaffedStaffed 100 days; reports went through a station at RandSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1941 and 1970
  7. 1970 EventLast used for emergencies; the sources give only the decade (1970s)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1970 and 2011
  9. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered February 10, 2011Source: firetower.org
  10. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

Hobson Horn sits at about 4,710 feet in the Siskiyou National Forest, in Josephine County, Oregon.1 A 1943 Coast and Geodetic Survey station description, quoted by Forest Lookouts, places the Forest Service lookout about 10 miles southwest of Galice and 14 miles east of Agness.2

Before the tower, the site had a rag camp, set up in 1935.1,3 The tower that replaced it was a 20-foot treated timber L-4 tower, and the register gives 1940 as its build year.1 The Forest Lookouts page instead quotes a Siskiyou National Forest history, which says a 20-foot creosoted timber tower was erected in 1939 with E.R.A. labor and that a cabin was built on it in 1940.2 On when the tower went up, the register and the history disagree.1,2 Clearing was done for visibility, and the same page records panorama photographs taken on August 25, 1936.2

In 1941 the lookout was staffed for 100 days. Reports went through a station at Rand, and communications ran by forest line to Pacific Telephone and Telegraph.2 The tower was last used for emergencies in the 1970s.1,3

The register says the tower has since been removed, while firelookout.com says it was destroyed.1,3 The Forest Fire Lookout Association's list marks the tower as gone.4

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains of the tower or cabin on the site today. A 2020 Siskiyou Mountain Club report on the Hobson Horn Trail, which drops about 18 miles from Hobson Horn to the Illinois River, describes one stretch as brush so dense it was close to impassable.5 On one trip the writer spent most of the hike off the trail, looking for gaps in the brush. He said reopening the route would take a great deal of effort, though the tread he could see was in better shape than he expected.5

We found nothing on whether the site is open to visitors. Check with the Siskiyou National Forest before planning a trip, and do not assume the old trail can still be followed.

  1. Hobson Horn Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/hobson-horn-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Hobson Horn, Forest Lookouts (Oregon), Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/hobson-horn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Hobson Horn Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/hobsonhorn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Oregon Lookouts, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. A trail forlorn, forgotten, and now gone: Hobson Horn, Siskiyou Mountain Club, https://siskiyoumountainclub.org/blogs/siskiyou-hiker-news/a-trail-forlorn-forgotten-and-now-gone-hobson-horn (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Hobson Horn 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: 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, 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.