FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Curry County, Oregon

Lake O Woods

Crow's nest in the 1920s, then an L-4 cab in 1933; a Barklow Mountain cab was moved here in 1974. Now a Forest Service rental cabin.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Forest Service rental cabin booked through Recreation.gov or by phone; the Forest Service lists the site as open.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 flat-roofed cab on a short steel tower (register: CL-160 flattop)The designs: R-6, L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1920
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,419 ft (1,042 m)
Agency
USDA Forest Service, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (Gold Beach Ranger District)
Land
Federal land
Location
Curry County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.59314, −124.12950
Registers
Not on a lookout register
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-lake-o-woods

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 3.5 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. 1920 BuiltSource: firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page
  2. 1933 BuiltL-4 cab added after the tree crow's-nest periodSources: firelookout.com, nhlr.org
  3. No record between 1933 and 1955
  4. 1955 Replaced by a new structureSteel flat-topped cab first erected on Barklow Mountain, replacing an L-5 cab built there in 1933Sources: nhlr.org, firetower.org
  5. No record between 1955 and 1974
  6. 1974 MovedCab flown by helicopter from Barklow Mountain to this site and set on a short steel towerSources: nhlr.org, fs.usda.gov
  7. 1974 First staffedFire-season staffing begins at this siteSource: fs.usda.gov
  8. No record between 1974 and 1996
  9. 1996 Last staffedForest Service gives 1996; Firelookout.com gives 1998Sources: fs.usda.gov, firelookout.com
  10. 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Lake O' Woods started as a crow's nest in a tree in the 1920s.1 The register places it about three miles north of the Rogue River.1 An L-4 cab was added in 1933.2,1 The site is in Curry County, Oregon.2 The Forest Service puts it about 21 miles northeast of Gold Beach, while firelookout.com puts it 21 miles southeast of Port Orford.3,2

The cabin that stands now came from somewhere else. Its steel flat-topped cab was first erected on Barklow Mountain in 1955, where it replaced an L-5 cab built there in 1933.4,1 The register spells the mountain "Barkalow."1 In 1974 the cab was flown by helicopter to this site and placed on a short steel tower with a catwalk.3,2,1

The Forest Service records fire-season staffing from 1974 through 1996.3 Firelookout.com says it was last staffed in 1998, so the two sources disagree.2 They also differ on the tower: the Forest Service describes an eight-foot tower, while the register gives a 10-foot steel I-beam tower.3,1

The Forest Service and the register both call it Lake of the Woods Lookout.3,1 The register lists it as US 494.1

Today it is a one-room cabin for one to four people, rented through Recreation.gov or by calling 1-877-444-6777.3 The Forest Service lists the site as open.3 Guests provide their own sleeping gear and cooking equipment.3 The windows give 360-degree views that take in the Pacific Ocean and the Kalmiopsis and Wild Rogue Wildernesses.3

  1. Lake of the Woods Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/lake-of-the-woods-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Lake O' Woods Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/lakeowoods.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Lake of the Woods Lookout, USDA Forest Service, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/rogue-siskiyou/recreation/lake-woods-lookout (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Barklow Mountain Lookout Site, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://www.firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/barklow-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Lake O' Woods in 1927
Lake O' Woods in 1927 (1927)Photo: Steve Paynter, via firelookout.com · source
Lake O' Woods in 1934
Lake O' Woods in 1934 (1934)Photo: Steve Paynter, via firelookout.com · source
Lake O' Woods in 1944
Lake O' Woods in 1944 (1944)Photo: Steve Paynter, via firelookout.com · source
Lake O' Woods L.O.
Lake O' Woods L.OPhoto: Steve Paynter, via firelookout.com · source

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Sources

  1. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, type, design, status, agency, ownership, dates, 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
  2. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.