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Fire lookout · Multnomah County, Oregon

Larch Mountain Lookout Site

Multnomah County summit lookout: a 1914-15 timber platform, a 1920s steel tower, a 1940s L-4 cab; removed in 1976. The summit is now a public day-use area.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The lookout was removed in 1976; the summit is now a public day-use area.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. The summit picnic area and Sherrard Point viewpoint are open; Larch Mountain Road closes seasonally from November to May or June.

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Sherrard Point Trail #443 is a paved 0.2-mile trail from the picnic area, with about 100 steps to the viewpoint.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerAermotor steel tower with 7x7 steel cab (1924), later a timber tower with an L-4 cabCab: L-4; tower: Aermotor
Built of
SteelGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1914
Height
85 ft (25.9 m)
Elevation
4,058 ft (1,237 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Multnomah County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.53276, −122.08780
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-larch-mountain

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 3.7 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. 1914 BuiltRegister date: platform and cab on top of two 90 ft fir treesSource: firetower.org
  2. 1915 BuiltNewspapers show the tower finished by June and recently erected by October 1915; firelookout.com also gives 1915Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  3. 1923 Replaced by a new structureRegister date: 90 ft steel tower with metal cab and ground house; materials stored in November 1923 for spring erectionSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1924 Replaced by a new structurefirelookout.com date for the steel tower; Forest Lookouts chronology: 90 ft Aermotor tower with 7x7 steel cabSources: firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1934 StaffedWilbur Harrison (spelled Wilbert in the 1934 and 1937 items) lookout in 1934 and 1935; still there in 1937Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1942 EventAircraft Warning Service station Tare 2-9 active from October 1942 to October 1943; the Forest Service kept the site for fire detectionSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1945 BuiltMid-1940s timber tower with L-4 cab and public observation deck; sources give 84, 90 or 100 ftSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1945 and 1976
  9. 1976 RemovedL-4 structure removedSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  10. No record between 1976 and 2010
  11. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: August 26, 2010Source: FFLOS register entry
  12. 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.

Larch Mountain, in Multnomah County, had a summit lookout from the mid-1910s until 1976.1,2,3

The first sat on two fir trees, a platform and cab that the register dates to 1914. Firelookout.com and the 1915 newspapers give 1915.1,3,2 A June 1915 paper said the tower was finished except for its top platform, and an October item called it recently erected.2 An April 1915 plan called for a tower of huge timbers cut on site, with a view in every direction.2 By January 1924 the two fir trunks had weakened by decay, and visitors had been kept off the tower the summer before.2

In November 1923 materials for an 85-foot steel tower were stored on the mountain for erection the next spring.2 The register gives 1923 for a 90-foot steel tower with a metal cab and a ground house. Firelookout.com gives 1924, and the Forest Lookouts chronology lists a 90-foot Aermotor tower with a steel cab, also in 1924.1,3,2 A 1947 federal survey description says the tower stood about 100 feet.2

In the 1940s a timber tower with an L-4 cab and a public observation deck below it went up. Sources give its height as 84, 90 or 100 feet.1,2,3

A 1920 newspaper noted that no one was kept on the summit in winter.2 In 1925 Mrs. W.M. Arrington was appointed state fire warden, the first woman so appointed in the district, and she was based at the summit cabin.2 Wilbur Harrison was the lookout in 1934 and 1935 and was still there in 1937. The name is spelled Wilbert in the 1934 and 1937 items.2

From October 1942 to October 1943 Larch was an Aircraft Warning Service post, station Tare 2-9. When the post closed, the Forest Service kept the site for fire detection.2

The structure was removed in 1976.1,2,3

Today the summit is a public day-use area.4,5 Larch Mountain Road, run by Multnomah County, closes seasonally from November to May or June.5 The picnic grounds have about 10 tables. The paved Sherrard Point Trail (#443) is 0.2 miles long, with 100 steps leading from the picnic area up to a viewpoint.4,5 No source describes what, if anything, remains of the lookout on the summit today.

  1. Larch Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/larch-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Larch Mountain, Forest Lookouts Oregon (quoting newspapers and a National Geodetic Survey station description), oregonlookouts.weebly.com, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/larch-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Larch Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/larchmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Larch Mountain Day Use, USDA Forest Service, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/columbiarivergorge/recreation/larch-mountain-day-use (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Sherrard Point Trail #443, USDA Forest Service, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/columbiarivergorge/recreation/trails/sherrard-point-trail-443 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Larch Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Larch Mountain Lookout Site, 1945
(1945)Photo: Fire Lookout Museum and Dave Bula collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Larch Mountain Lookout Site, 1915
(1915)Photo: Fire Lookout Museum and Dave Bula collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · 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. 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: what it is built of, 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, status, agency, access, visiting details, 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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