FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Lane County, Oregon

Little Cowhorn Lookout

Also known as Little Cowhorn Mountain Lookout

A 1960 14x14 flat-top cab on a site first developed in 1923, in Oregon's Willamette National Forest; open to hikers, volunteer-maintained, and not staffed.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Open 24 hours a day, no fee, first come first served; Forest Service and Oregon Hikers pages

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
About 1 mile, rated moderate. The final approach crosses a rock face with a handrail. No water or restroom.
Staffing
Not staffed (as of 2026)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cab14 x 14 ft R-6 flat-top cab on a short 4 ft wooden base (1960); site first developed in 1923 with a D-6 cupola cabinThe designs: R-6, D-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
300 ft (91.4 m)
Elevation
3,988 ft (1,216 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Lane County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.03870, −122.50240
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-little-cowhorn

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 3.7 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. 1923 BuiltSite first developed with a D-6 cupola groundhouse cabin, per NHLR. Firelookout.com gives the same 1923 start.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1923 and 1960
  3. 1960 BuiltForest Service and firelookout.com date the current cab to 1960Sources: firelookout.com, fs.usda.gov
  4. 1960 Replaced by a new structureCupola replaced with a 14 x 14 ft R-6 flat-top cab on a 4 ft wooden baseSource: nhlr.org
  5. 1967 EventPlaced on standby status after only a few years in serviceSource: nhlr.org
  6. No record between 1967 and 1990
  7. 1990 RestoredPartially restored in the early 1990s (register gives no exact year)Source: nhlr.org
  8. 2001 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered December 1, 2001 as US 400, OR 47Source: nhlr.org
  9. 2004 RestoredRestored in 2004 per Oregon Hikers field guide (volunteer-edited wiki; not confirmed by Forest Service)Source: oregonhikers.org
  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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Little Cowhorn Lookout sits on a mountaintop in Oregon's Willamette National Forest, in Lane County, about 20 miles north of Oakridge.1,2,3 The Forest Service describes the summit as open and rocky.3 Published elevations differ: the register gives 3,988 feet, while the Forest Service page gives 4,243.1,3

The register lists it as US 400, OR 47 and records its registration on December 1, 2001.1

The site was first developed in 1923 with a cupola-style cabin.1 In 1960 that was replaced by a 14-by-14-foot flat-topped cab on a short wooden base, the building that stands there today.1,4

The new cab was in service only a few years. It was placed on standby in 1967, and the register says it was partly restored in the early 1990s.1 It is not currently staffed.3 A hiking field guide dates a restoration to 2004.5 According to the Forest Service, volunteers have maintained it for years, and it is in very good shape.3

One lookout-history listing calls it abandoned for many years, which does not fit the later upkeep or the Forest Service's report of very good condition.2,3

Today the Forest Service lists the site as open 24 hours a day with no fee.3 The trail is about one mile and rated moderate, and the last stretch crosses a rock face that has a handrail, so go carefully.3 There is no water or restroom.3 A hiking field guide says the lookout is available first come, first served, and asks visitors to leave the place tidier than they found it.5

The Forest Service notes that the area was affected by the Bedrock Fire, and that recent wildfires have raised the risk of landslides and debris flows.3 Check current notices before going.

  1. Little Cowhorn Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/little-cowhorn-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Little Cowhorn Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/littlecowhorn.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Little Cowhorn Mountain Lookout, Willamette National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/willamette/recreation/little-cowhorn-mountain-lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Oregon lookout list, firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Little Cowhorn Mountain Lookout, Oregon Hikers Field Guide, https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Little_Cowhorn_Mountain_Lookout (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Little Cowhorn Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Little Cowhorn in 1960
Little Cowhorn in 1960 (1960)Photo: Mark Swift and Howard Verschoor, via firelookout.com · source
Little Cowhorn L.O.
Little Cowhorn L.OPhoto: Mark Swift and Howard Verschoor, 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1960
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1923
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1960

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, 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. Recreation Information Database (recreation.gov) Gave us: ownership, access Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  4. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: what it is built of, design, 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
  5. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. 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
  7. Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) Gave us: register numbers, 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
  8. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, staffing, 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.