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Fire lookout · Umatilla County, Oregon

Johnson Creek (Ridge) Lookout Site

Also known as Johnson Ridge, Johnson Creek

Steel lookout built on the Umatilla Indian Reservation in 1940, removed in 1958 with its steel reused at Tiptop Mountain. No source describes the site today.

Tribal land: permission required

This site is on tribal land. Ask the tribe for permission before visiting, and follow its rules. Within the Umatilla Indian Reservation; no source states how visitors may reach the land

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower removed in 1958; 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

Tribal land: permission required. See the warning at the top of this page.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerInternational-Stacey steel tower with a 7-by-7 steel cabThe design: Other steel maker
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1940
Height
85 ft (25.9 m)
Elevation
4,354 ft (1,327 m)
Agency
BIA
Land
Tribal land
Location
Umatilla County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.38975, −118.50632 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-johnson-creek-ridge

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 4.1 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. 1940 BuiltSteel tower erected May and June 1940 by the CCC Indian Division; contract and Forest Lookouts say 82 feet 6 inches, register and 1940 cost analysis say 85 feetSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, newsbreak.com
  2. No record between 1940 and 1958
  3. 1958 RemovedTower removed; Forest Lookouts Tip Top page says the district dismantled it and hauled it to La GrandeSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  4. 1959 EventSteel reused at Tiptop Mountain: register and firelookout.com say the lower half; Forest Lookouts Tip Top page describes the move to La Grande and a 1957 plan for about 50 feetSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1959 and 2019
  6. 2019 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered November 20, 2019Source: firetower.org
  7. 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.

In 1939 the Umatilla Indian Agency planned a lookout tower for the Johnson Creek area, inside the Umatilla Indian Reservation.1,2 The first design was a 40-foot wooden tower, mostly built from nearby hewn material.2 Two men who visited the site that July judged that plan undesirable.2 After an August review, the plan switched to steel.2 The sources give three heights for the steel tower: 80 feet in the August recommendation, 82 feet 6 inches in the October 1939 contract, and 85 feet in a 1940 cost analysis.2 The register also gives 85 feet.1

The steel tower was ordered from the International-Stacey Corporation at a cost of $1,399, plus $476.33 in transport charges.2 It went up in May and June 1940, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps' Indian Division, with a 7-by-7 steel cab.2,3 The Forest Lookouts page calls it the only lookout built on the reservation.2

An October 1940 letter says some parts had not been machined properly, and that an old-style fire finder, borrowed from the local Forest Service office, was used during fire season.2

The tower came down in 1958.1,4 The register says its lower half was reused for a new tower on Tiptop Mountain in 1959.1,4 The Forest Lookouts Tip Top page describes the move differently: the district dismantled the steel tower and hauled it to La Grande, and a 1957 plan had proposed using about 50 feet of it.5

The site is within the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the former-site register listed it in November 2019.1 A 2025 summary of the Johnson Lands restoration area describes the 1938 to 1942 work there, including a lookout tower.3 No source I found describes what, if anything, remains at the site now, and I found nothing saying whether visitors may enter the land.

  1. Johnson Creek (Ridge) Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/johnson-creek-ridge-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Johnson Creek, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/johnson-creek.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Johnson Lands (Johnson Creek Restoration Area), NewsBreak, https://www.newsbreak.com/news/4145110050595-johnson-lands-johnson-creek-restoration-area-umatilla-indian-reservation-or (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Johnson Ridge Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/johnsonridge.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Tip Top Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/tip-top-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Johnson Creek (Ridge) Lookout under construction 1940
Johnson Creek (Ridge) Lookout under construction 1940 (1940)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Johnson Creek (Ridge) Lookout under construction 1940
Johnson Creek (Ridge) Lookout under construction 1940 (1940)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via 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 the location by 1.1 km (0.7 mi).

    • FFLOS: 45.38975, −118.50632
    • FFLA: 45.39060, −118.49194
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 45.39060, −118.49194

    They share a register number.

    The map uses the position from FFLOS.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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, ownership, access, 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, access, 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.