FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Linn County, Oregon

Iron Mountain Lookout

Also known as Iron Mountain Lookout Site (Linn County)

Fire finder 1929, L-4 house 1933, windstorm 1976, R-6 cab moved in that year, torn down 2007. The summit is a hiking spot with no lookout left.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Torn down in 2007. Sources differ on whether the cab was burned in place or salvaged first.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. NHLR calls the summit a popular hiking and wildflower destination. No current source confirms access.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
No lookout remains to climb. A 1976 newspaper described the summit as easily accessible by trail.

Facts

Status
Gone sources disagree
Type
Ground-level cabR-6 flat-top cab moved in 1976; earlier L-4 ground house (1933)The designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
500 ft (152.4 m)
Elevation
5,337 ft (1,627 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Willamette National Forest, Sweet Home Ranger District)
Land
Federal land
Location
Linn County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.40098, −122.14910
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-iron-mountain

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.

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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. 1929 EventFire finder placed on the summit (not a cabin).Sources: nhlr.org, firetower.org
  2. 1933 BuiltL-4 ground house built on the summit.Sources: nhlr.org, firetower.org
  3. 1939 StaffedA lookout fireman was named for the season.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1940 StaffedLookout on duty, per a 1940 newspaper item.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1940 and 1976
  6. 1976 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  7. 1976 DestroyedHouse destroyed by a windstorm in February 1976.Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  8. 1976 MovedR-6 cab moved to the summit from Herman Peak (named Herman Lookout by FFLOS).Sources: nhlr.org, firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1990 StaffedA Forest Service fire lookout died after an apparent fall near the cabin in August 1990, so the post was still staffed.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered March 31, 2003.Source: nhlr.org
  11. 2007 RemovedTorn down. NHLR says knocked down and burned in place after vandalism; the 2007 chapter report says members salvaged items first.Sources: nhlr.org, firetower.org, firelookout.org
  12. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered May 8, 2011.Source: firetower.org
  13. 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.

Iron Mountain is a rock pinnacle above Highway 20 in the Willamette National Forest, in Linn County.1 The summit got a fire finder in 1929 and an L-4 ground house in 1933.1,2

The summit still had a lookout in 1940, when a newspaper item described an airplane dropping a Sunday paper, wrapped in white cloth, to the lookout.3 A July 1939 item had already named the season's lookout fireman.3

In February 1976 a windstorm destroyed the house.3 That spring the Forest Service announced plans to move a lookout tower from Herman Peak to the summit, to be flown in by helicopter.3 The NHLR dates the arrival of its R-6 flat-top cab to 1976.1 The sources name the donor site differently, as Herman Peak in one place and Herman Lookout in another.3,2

A Forest Service fire lookout died after an apparent fall near the cabin in August 1990, which suggests the post was still staffed then.3

The structure came down in 2007, and the sources differ on how.1 The NHLR says the cab was knocked down and burned in place because of vandalism.1 A 2007 Oregon chapter report says members made four trips to salvage items before it was brought down.4 An Oregon lookouts page says it was declared a health hazard and torn down, with a viewing platform for hikers planned in its place.3 Two lookout pages date the removal to 2007.2,5

No source describes what remains on the summit today, and none confirms that the planned platform was built.3 The NHLR calls the summit a popular hiking and wildflower destination, but no current source confirms access.1

  1. Iron Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/iron-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Iron Mountain Lookout Site (Linn County), Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/iron-mountain-lookout-site-linn-county/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Iron Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Oregon Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/iron-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Oregon Chapter Report 2007, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/cr-or-2007.pdf (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Iron Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/ironmtn78.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Iron Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Iron Mountain Lookout
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1965
1965 (1965)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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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 whether it still stands.

    • FFLA: Gone
    • NHLR: Standing
    • FFLOS: Gone
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: Gone

    NHLR lists lookouts that were standing when registered. firelookout.com lists it, but not on its map of standing lookouts.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: register numbers, 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
  3. 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
  4. 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
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: what it is built of, design, dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. 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
  7. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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

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