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Fire lookout · Curry County, Oregon

Johnson Butte Lookout Site - SNF

Also known as Johnson Butte

A 1933 observation tower and camp gave way to a 20-foot treated timber L-4 tower in 1947; both were gone by 1968. No source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed or destroyed in 1968; no source describes what remains at the site.

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
Cab on a tower20-foot treated timber L-4 tower (1947), after a 1933 observation tower and rag campThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1933
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
3,779 ft (1,152 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Siskiyou National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Curry County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.25359, −123.96542
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-johnson-butte-lookout-site-snf

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 3.8 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. 1933 Built20-foot observation tower and rag camp set up on the siteSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1941 StaffedLookout station staffed 84 days; reported to the Gold Beach station via radioSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1947 Replaced by a new structure20-foot treated timber L-4 tower replaced the 1933 observation towerSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1947 and 1968
  5. 1968 RemovedRegister says removed; firelookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1968 and 2011
  7. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered March 19, 2011; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  8. 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.

Johnson Butte lies in Curry County, on the Siskiyou National Forest, at 3,779 feet.1 In 1933 a 20-foot observation tower and a rag camp were set up on the site.1,2 Panorama photos were taken on November 7, 1936.3

A May 1940 Siskiyou National Forest guard-placement plan, quoted on the Oregon page, suggested a season on the premise that lightning was the post's main justification.3 In 1941 the lookout was staffed for 84 days and reported to the Gold Beach station by radio.3

In 1947 a 20-foot treated timber L-4 tower replaced the first structure.1,2 The register says that tower was removed in 1968, and firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year.1,2 The Oregon page also lists the tower as removed.3 The firelookout.org county list marks the site as gone.4 I found no source that describes what remains at the site today, or whether the public can reach it.

  1. Johnson Butte Lookout Site - SNF, Former Fire Lookout Sites register (firetower.org), http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/johnson-butte-lookout-site-snf/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Johnson Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/johnsonbutte63a.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Johnson Butte, Forest Lookouts (oregonlookouts.weebly.com), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/johnson-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Oregon fire lookouts list, firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Johnson Butte Lookout panoramic 11-7-36
Johnson Butte Lookout panoramic 11-7-36Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via 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, 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: 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, 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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