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Fire lookout · Crook County, Oregon

Lookout Mountain Lookout Site-ONF

Also known as Lookout Mountain

Ochoco NF summit lookout: a 1925 cab, then a 1931 pole L-4 tower, removed in the 1950s per the register; old foundations remain, per Oregon Hikers.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in the 1950s per the register; firelookout.com says destroyed in the 1960s; Oregon Hikers reports old foundations on the summit

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. Forest Service lower trailhead is open 24 hours a day; Oregon Hikers calls the summit a popular destination for hikers and mountain bikers

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Lookout Mountain Trail 804 starts from the Forest Service lower trailhead; several trails from other trailheads cross the mountain

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower14x14 ft cab built in 1925, later an L-4 pole towerThe designs: L-4, D-5 (4-AR)
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1925
Height
11 ft (3.4 m)
Elevation
6,926 ft (2,111 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Crook County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.32688, −120.37308
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-lookout-mountain-lookout-site-onf

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. 1912 EventA ranger was told to build a lookout (1930 Ochoconian item quoted on the Rex page, which dates it 1912); a June 13, 1912 Crook County Journal item gave the planned tower as 30 to 40 feet highSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1913 First staffedL.M. Bechtell named as a forest guard on Lookout for several monthsSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1919 StaffedJack Ireland was due to take up his duties on Lookout Mountain on July 1, per a June 26, 1919 itemSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1925 Built14x14 ft lookout house completed in 1925; the register calls it a Supervisor Hall cab and the Rex page a D-5 style houseSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1925 StaffedMarion O'Kelley on duty as lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1927 FireNine fires reported during the fire seasonSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1928 StaffedGordon McNely on duty as lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1929 StaffedRoy Mattson moved off the mountain when the fire season closed on November 5, 1929Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1931 Replaced by a new structurePer the register, a 20 ft pole L-4 tower replaced the cab; firelookout.com gives a 10 ft L-4 tower in the 1930sSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. 1934 EventTelephone lightning-protection boxes shot into; names of three men written on the lookout house; offenders fined $57.50Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1945 Last staffedJessie Quant left for her post as a Forest Service lookout in June 1945Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  12. 1950 RemovedGiven only as the 1950s. The register says removed; the Rex page says removedSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  13. 1960 DestroyedGiven only as the 1960s by firelookout.comSource: firelookout.com
  14. No record between 1960 and 2011
  15. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered with the Former Fire Lookout Sites register on June 24, 2011Source: firetower.org
  16. 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.

Lookout Mountain is the highest point in the Ochoco National Forest, close to 7,000 feet and about 22 miles east of Prineville.1,2

A 1930 Ochoconian item quoted on the Oregon Lookouts page says a ranger was told to build a lookout here, and the page dates that instruction to 1912. A June 13, 1912 Crook County Journal item gave the planned tower as 30 to 40 feet high.3 The register dates the lookout house to 1925, a 14-by-14-foot cab, and the Oregon Lookouts page says it stood on a base about 11 feet tall.4,3

The register says a 20-foot pole L-4 tower replaced the cab in 1931, patrolling ground half a mile to the northwest and southeast.4 Firelookout.com instead gives a 10-foot L-4 tower in the 1930s.2

Items quoted on the Oregon Lookouts page name the lookouts: Jack Ireland, who was due to start on July 1, 1919; Marion O'Kelley in 1925; Gordon McNely in 1928; and Roy Mattson, who was moved off the mountain when the 1929 season closed.3 The last staffing the sources name is Jessie Quant, who left for her post in June 1945.3 A 1927 item says the lookout reported nine fires that season.3

The register says the tower was removed in the 1950s, while firelookout.com says it was destroyed in the 1960s.4,2 The Rex page marks it removed.3 An Oregon Wild essay on the roadless area says a fire lookout once stood on the summit.1

Today the Oregon Hikers field guide says the summit still has the foundations of an old lookout building, plus a corral, on an exposed lava bed.5 The Forest Service lower trailhead is open 24 hours a day and leads to Lookout Mountain Trail 804.6 The guide says the peak draws both hikers and mountain bikers.5

  1. Lookout Mountain: Roadless Beacon of the Ochocos, Oregon Wild, https://oregonwild.org/lookout-mountain-roadless-beacon-ochocos/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Lookout Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/lookoutmtn96b.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Lookout Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/lookout-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Lookout Mountain Lookout Site-ONF, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, Forest Fire Lookout Association, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/lookout-mountain-lookout-site-onf/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Lookout Mountain (Ochoco Mountains), Oregon Hikers Field Guide, https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Lookout_Mountain_(Ochoco_Mountains) (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Lookout Mountain Lower Trailhead, Ochoco National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/ochoco/recreation/lookout-mountain-lower-trailhead (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Lookout Mountain Lookout 1925
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1925 (1925)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1912 - 1925
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1912 - 1925 (1912)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1942
Lookout Mountain Lookout 1942 (1942)Photo: Ron Kemnow 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: 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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