FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lane County, Oregon

Larison Rock Lookout Site

Lane County lookout above Oakridge: a 1918 cabin, a 1927 D-6 cupola, a 1940 L-4 cab removed in 1968 or 1970. The rock is reached by Forest Service trail #3607.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The L-4 cab came down in 1968 or 1970, depending on the source; no source describes what remains on the rock.

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. Reached on Willamette National Forest trail #3607; open to hikers, horses and mountain bikes; motorcycles prohibited.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Trail #3607 is 4.0 miles; the upper 0.3 miles reach the top of Larison Rock; closed to mountain bikes November through March.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabD-6 cupola cabin (1927), then an L-4 cab (1940)The designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1918
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,607 ft (1,099 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Willamette National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Lane County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.71143, −122.47173
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-larison-rock

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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

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. 1918 BuiltRegister: first cabin on the rockSource: firetower.org
  2. 1925 EventOctober 1925 announcement: material to be ordered for new lookouts at Larison Rock and Logger ButteSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1925 StaffedLawrence Wells sent to the station in June 1925Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1927 Replaced by a new structureD-6 cupola cabin replaced the first cabin; 1927 newspapers report the house readied for shipment in April and going up in AugustSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1927 StaffedR. A. Forkner lookout at Larison Rock in 1927Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1930 FireLightning struck a tree within 200 yards of the station; the lookout put out the fire in that treeSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1935 StaffedFrank Singletary lookout fireman for the Forest ServiceSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1940 BuiltL-4 cab (model 1936 house) builtSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  9. No record between 1940 and 1968
  10. 1968 RemovedForest Lookouts page date for removal of the lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1970 RemovedRegister and firelookout.com: removed or destroyed in 1970Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  12. No record between 1970 and 2011
  13. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: March 25, 2011Source: FFLOS register entry
  14. 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.

Larison Rock stands in Lane County, in the Willamette National Forest, a few miles south of Oakridge.1,2 A 1925 newspaper put it five miles south of town, and firelookout.com says three.3,2

The register dates the first cabin to 1918 and says a D-6 cupola cabin replaced it in 1927.1 The Forest Lookouts page gives c.1925 for the cupola, but its own 1925 item only announces materials that would soon be ordered. Its 1927 items say the house was being readied for shipment in April and was going up by August, so the register's 1927 date fits.3

Lookouts were posted there in the summers. Lawrence Wells was sent to the station in June 1925, R. A. Forkner was the lookout in 1927, and Frank Singletary was the lookout fireman in 1935.3

In 1930 lightning struck a tree within 200 yards of the station, and the lookout put out the fire in that tree.3

In August 1935 furniture made by members of CCC company 948 was taken up to the cabin.3

An L-4 cab went up in 1940.3,2 Sources disagree about its end. The Forest Lookouts page says it came down in 1968, while the register and firelookout.com say it was removed or destroyed in 1970.3,1,2

Forest Service trail #3607 reaches the rock today. The 4.0-mile trail is open to hikers, horses and mountain bikes, but motorcycles are not allowed, and mountain bikes are barred from November through March.4 The upper 0.3 miles climb to the top of the rock, and trees have grown enough to block the views to the east and southeast.4

No source describes what, if anything, remains of the cabin or its footings on the rock today.

  1. Larison Rock Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/larison-rock-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Larison Rock Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/larisonrock.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Larison Rock, Forest Lookouts Oregon (quoting newspapers), oregonlookouts.weebly.com, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/larison-rock.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Larison Rock Trail #3607, USDA Forest Service, Willamette National Forest, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/willamette/recreation/trails/larison-rock-trail-3607 (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Larison Rock Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mr. and Mrs. Dave Hoover, husband and wife team, in days when the lookout was also a fireman
Mr. and Mrs. Dave Hoover, husband and wife team, in days when the lookout was also a firemanPhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
1932
1932 (1932)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Alidade
AlidadePhoto: 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, 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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