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Fire lookout · Wallowa County, Oregon

Hoodoo Ridge Lookout

Umatilla NF lookout near Troy: 1925 crow's nest and 1933 CCC steel tower; unstaffed since the late 1960s or early 1970s, NRHP-listed 2015, abandoned at a 2023 visit.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Umatilla National Forest land reached by Road 62; gated Road 090 has to be walked about 0.6 miles to the 091 spur

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
park on Road 62 without blocking the gate, walk 0.6 miles up Road 090, then turn right on the 091 spur (2023 visit directions)
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor steel tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab built by the CCC in 1933, beside a 1925 crow's nest in a ponderosa pineThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Height
100 ft (30.5 m)
Elevation
4,219 ft (1,286 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Wallowa County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.94772, −117.61091
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-hoodoo-ridge

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

Downloads about 3.8 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. 1925 Builtcrow's nest built by the Umatilla National Forest up a 110-foot ponderosa pine; the register gives the tree as 65 feetSources: nhlr.org, npgallery.nps.gov, en.wikipedia.org
  2. 1933 BuiltCCC built the steel Aermotor tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab, a cabin, garage and outhouse; the register also says around 1933Sources: nhlr.org, npgallery.nps.gov, en.wikipedia.org
  3. 1935 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  4. No record between 1935 and 1968
  5. 1968 StaffedDoug Flaiz listed as known lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  6. 1970 Last staffedapproximate: the lookout ceased to be staffed in the late 1960s or early 1970sSources: npgallery.nps.gov, cherylhill.net
  7. No record between 1970 and 2001
  8. 2001 RestoredPassport in Time volunteers worked on the cabin in September 2001; the 2023 visit calls it a restoration meant for a rental program that never happened; the nomination says the volunteers cleaned it and covered the openingsSources: npgallery.nps.gov, cherylhill.net
  9. 2002 RestoredPassport in Time volunteers cleaned the garage and painted its exterior white with green trimSource: npgallery.nps.gov
  10. 2011 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterNational Historic Lookout Register registration date September 4, 2011Source: nhlr.org
  11. 2015 Fireper a 2023 visit report, the Grizzly Bear Complex fire burned through the area in 2015; the report's fire-break explanation is the writer's own guessSource: cherylhill.net
  12. 2015 Listed on the National Register of Historic Placesadded to the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district on May 26, 2015Sources: npgallery.nps.gov, en.wikipedia.org
  13. 2023 EventJune 18, 2023 visit: status recorded as abandoned; lower stairs removed to keep people from going upSource: cherylhill.net
  14. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Hoodoo Ridge began with a crow's nest in a tree.1 In 1925 the Umatilla National Forest built a wooden platform up a ponderosa pine, roughly 110 feet tall, and until 1933 it was the only structure on the site.1 In 1933 the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) added a steel Aermotor tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab, along with a cabin, a garage and an outhouse.1,2 The register gives the crow's nest tree as 65 feet tall, while the nomination measures the 1925 tree at 110 feet.3,1 The register lists a 1935 build year but also says the lookout was built around 1933.3

The tower stands about 100 feet tall, though the nomination measures it at 101 feet.3,1,4 The site served as a fire lookout and, from 1933, as crew quarters until the 1970s.1 A lookout history site lists Doug Flaiz as lookout personnel in 1968.4 A 2023 visit report says the lookout stopped being staffed in the late 1960s or early 1970s.2

The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district on May 26, 2015.5 Earlier, the register had listed it on September 4, 2011.3

Passport in Time volunteers worked on the buildings in the 2000s.1,2 The nomination describes their 2001 work on the cabin as cleaning it and covering the openings to keep out rodents.1 A 2023 visit report calls the same work a restoration that was meant to let the cabin join a rental program.2 That rental never happened.2 Volunteers returned in summer 2002 to clean the garage and paint its outside white with green trim.1

A 2023 visit found the site abandoned.2 Road 090 is gated, so visitors park on Road 62 without blocking the gate, walk about 0.6 miles up the road and then take a spur to the tower.2 The lower tower stairs have been removed to keep people from climbing.2 The cabin has fallen into disrepair, and the garage is in worse shape still.2 The National Register nomination described the tower and cab as in good condition.1

  1. Hoodoo Ridge Lookout, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, National Park Service, https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/4b041e77-baa1-4dcb-931d-014435ba5645 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Hoodoo Ridge - Every Lookout in Oregon, Cheryl Hill, https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/2023/07/10/hoodoo-ridge/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Hoodoo Ridge Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/hoodoo-ridge-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Hoodoo Ridge Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/hoodoo.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Hoodoo Ridge Lookout, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_Ridge_Lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Hoodoo Ridge Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Earlier crows nest lookout in July 2021
Earlier crows nest lookout in July 2021 (2021)Photo: Gary Braach, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Hoodoo Ridge in 2002
Hoodoo Ridge in 2002 (2002)Photo: Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Hoodoo Ridge cabin in 2002
Hoodoo Ridge cabin in 2002 (2002)Photo: Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Hoodoo Ridge in 2017
Hoodoo Ridge in 2017 (2017)Photo: Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Hoodoo Ridge Lookout Tree in 2017
Hoodoo Ridge Lookout Tree in 2017 (2017)Photo: Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Photo of Hoodoo Ridge Lookout
Photo: Ian Poellet, via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1935
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1933
    • Wikidata: 1925
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1933

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: design, photos, 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. Wikidata -- US fire lookout towers (Q748998 and subclasses) Gave us: register numbers, photos, links Wikidata · CC0 1.0 (Wikidata). Images keep their own Commons licence/credit. · retrieved 4 Oct 2026
  5. 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
  6. Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) Gave us: register numbers, links Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill, cherylhill.net) · No licence stated; facts only (name, agency, elevation, year built, design and height, status word, links). Posts' narrative and photos are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, 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.