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Fire lookout · Grant County, Oregon

Lake Butte Lookout Site

Grant County, OR site: an L-4 tower from 1934 or 1938 replaced by a 30-ft R-6 tower in 1962-63, moved to Antelope Mountain in 1974, where it still stands.

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. The tower was moved to Antelope Mountain in 1974 and stands there; no source read describes what remains at the Lake Butte site

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. No source read describes access to the Lake Butte site now, or whether Antelope Mountain is open to visitors

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 1964)

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Cab on a tower30' treated timber tower with R-6 flat cab (1962-63); earlier 33' pole tower with L-4 cab (1938)The designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1934
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
6,227 ft (1,898 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Grant County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.58013, −118.91578
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-lake-butte

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.

The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.3 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. 1934 Built20-foot native timber tower with L-4 cab per Forest Lookouts; firelookout.com says the site was established in the early 1930sSources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  2. 1938 Built33-foot pole or round timber tower with L-4 cabSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1946 EventCoast and Geodetic Survey station description calls the tower about 40 feet highSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1946 and 1961
  5. 1961 FireGrub Creek fire reported from the station, July 13, 1961Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1962 Replaced by a new structureNew 30-foot treated timber R-6 flat tower completed late in 1962 per a 1962 annual report; the register and firelookout.com say 1963Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. 1964 EventShots fired through the lookout post while the lookout was away from the tower; reported by the Blue Mountain EagleSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1974 MovedTower moved to Antelope Mountain; the register says only 'the 1970s'Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com, firetower.org
  9. No record between 1974 and 2011
  10. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered June 23, 2011; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  11. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

Lake Butte is in Grant County, Oregon, on the Malheur National Forest, about 12 miles north of John Day.1,2

Forest Lookouts lists a 20-foot native timber tower with an L-4 cab, built in 1934.3 Firelookout.com instead says the site was established in the early 1930s.2 A 33-foot pole tower with an L-4 cab followed in 1938.1,3 A 1946 Coast and Geodetic Survey description puts the tower at about 40 feet, taller than the other sources' figures.3

The Grub Creek fire was reported from the station on July 13, 1961.3 In October 1964, shots were fired through the lookout post on a Saturday morning while the lookout was away from the tower.3 A Blue Mountain Eagle report, quoted by Forest Lookouts, describes the damage.3

A new 30-foot treated timber tower with an R-6 flat cab replaced the 1938 tower.1,2 Forest Lookouts quotes a 1962 annual report saying the tower was completed late that year.3 A separate 1962 entry in the Historical Record for Buildings gives its final cost as $6,688.90.3 The register and firelookout.com both date it to 1963.1,2

Forest Lookouts and firelookout.com give 1974 as the year the tower was moved to Antelope Mountain.2,3 The register says only that the move came in the 1970s.1

The moved tower now stands on Antelope Mountain.4 Firelookout.com says the Antelope Mountain lookout is staffed every summer.4 No source we read describes what, if anything, remains at the Lake Butte site today. We also found nothing on whether Antelope Mountain is open to visitors.

  1. Lake Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/lake-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Lake Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/lakebutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Lake Butte, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/lake-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Antelope Mountain Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, http://firelookout.com/or/antelope.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Lake Butte Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1942
1942 (1942)Photo: 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, 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: design, 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, 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.