FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Union County, Oregon

Johnson Rock Lookout

An 82-foot timber tower with an L-4 cab in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, built in 1952 to replace a 1938 L-4 tower; staffed in summer.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower14-by-14-foot L-4 cab on an 82-foot open timber towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1938
Height
82 ft (25.0 m)
Elevation
5,702 ft (1,738 m)
Agency
US Forest Service - Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Union County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.12541, −118.40317
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-johnson-rock

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 3.9 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. 1938 BuiltEarlier wooden L-4 tower, replaced by the current structure. firelookout.com says 'developed about 1938'.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1952 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  3. 1952 Replaced by a new structureCurrent 82-foot open timber tower with 14x14 L-4 cab built to replace the 1938 towerSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  4. 1954 StaffedLookout personnel listed for 1954 on firelookout.comSource: firelookout.com
  5. 1958 StaffedLookout personnel listed for 1958 on firelookout.comSource: firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1958 and 2022
  7. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 4, 2022 as US 1628, OR 147Source: nhlr.org
  8. 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.

Johnson Rock sits in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in Union County.1,2 Firelookout.com says the site was developed about 1938 with a wooden L-4 tower.2 According to the register, the present tower took the place of an earlier L-4 built in 1938.1

Built in 1952, the present tower is 82 feet tall, of open timber construction, with a 14-by-14-foot L-4 cab on top.1,2 Firelookout.com lists lookout personnel for 1954 and 1958, and for several years in the 1980s.2 It also says the tower is staffed every summer.2

The register added Johnson Rock on July 4, 2022.1 I found no rental listing, public access rules or dated staffing record for the lookout. Before visiting, check with the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, since the tower is staffed in summer.2

  1. Johnson Rock Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/johnson-rock-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Johnson Rock Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/johnsonrock.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Johnson Rock Lookout - 2018
Johnson Rock Lookout - 2018 (2018)Photo: Rex Kamstra, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Johnson Rock in 1956
Johnson Rock in 1956 (1956)Photo: the Jerry Gildemeister collection and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Johnson Rock in 1998
Johnson Rock in 1998 (1998)Photo: the Jerry Gildemeister collection and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Johnson Rock in 2018
Johnson Rock in 2018 (2018)Photo: the Jerry Gildemeister collection and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · 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. 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, staffing, 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. OpenStreetMap -- fire lookout structures Gave us: links © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0. (c) OpenStreetMap contributors. · 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: 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, agency, staffing, 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.