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Fire lookout · Union County, Oregon

Lookout Mountain Lookout

A 1935 60-ft tower was replaced in 1948 by an L-4 cab on an 82-ft timber tower on the Umatilla NF; it is staffed in summer, but the tower is closed to climbers.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Summit reached by road; a gate on Road 62 may be closed, then park and walk. Sources say the tower is not open to visitors. Directory lists the site as accessible to the public.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Walk about 0.4 miles up Road 370 to the summit; if the Road 62 gate is closed, park on Road 62 and walk.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 cab with catwalk on a treated timber towerThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Height
82 ft (25.0 m)
Elevation
5,184 ft (1,580 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Umatilla National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Union County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.85110, −117.79220 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-lookout-mountain

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 4.1 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. 1935 BuiltFirst lookout: a 60-ft wooden observation tower with a standard lookout cab.Sources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  2. 1947 EventSeptember 1947 newspaper item announced a replacement 83-ft frame tower with a 14x14 house.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1948 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  4. 1948 Replaced by a new structureThe 60-ft tower was replaced by an 82-ft treated timber tower with an L-4 cab.Sources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1948 and 2001
  6. 2001 Last staffedRex's says staffed until 2001. Forest Lookouts says a Forest Service inspection found the structure unsafe after May windstorm damage.Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  7. 2004 AlteredCab removed, lowered by crane, refurbished and remounted on the tower; new roof, catwalk and handrail.Sources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, cherylhill.net
  8. 2004 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterAdded to the National Historic Lookout Register, October 21, 2004.Source: nhlr.org
  9. 2005 StaffedStaffed again in 2005 after refurbishment.Source: firelookout.com
  10. No record between 2005 and 2026
  11. 2026 StaffedListed as staffed and accessible to the public in the July 2026 directory.Source: cherylhill.net
  12. 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.

Lookout Mountain stands on the Umatilla National Forest in Union County, about 20 miles north-northeast of Elgin.1 The first tower here was a 60-foot wooden observation tower, put up in 1935.2,3,4 A September 1947 Walla Walla Union-Bulletin item, quoted by Forest Lookouts, said a new frame tower 83 feet high, with a 14-by-14 house on top, would take over from facilities that had served for many years.3

That replacement was built in 1948: an 82-foot tower of treated timber, topped by an L-4 cab.3,1,4 The sources do not agree on its height today. The register gives 87 feet, Forest Lookouts gives 90 feet in its 2004 entry, and Rex's Fire Lookout Page and Cheryl Hill's 2021 visit both give 82.2,3,1,4

Staffing has had gaps. Rex's Fire Lookout Page dates the last staffing to 2001, a refurbishment to 2004, and a return to staffing in 2005.1 Forest Lookouts describes a May windstorm that damaged the structure, and says a Forest Service inspection in 2001 judged it unsafe, so the staff member was moved to the High Ridge tower.3 In 2004 the cab was lowered by crane, refurbished, and set back on the tower, and the register gives October 21, 2004 as its registration date.2,3,4

Cheryl Hill visited on October 16, 2021, when the lookout was shut up for autumn, though it is normally staffed in summer.4 Even with nobody inside, she guessed, the tower is still off limits to visitors.4 The register's July 30, 2005 visit report makes the same point about the Umatilla National Forest.2 The July 2026 directory lists the lookout as staffed and accessible to the public.5 The summit is a 0.4-mile walk up Road 370. If the gate on Road 62 is closed, park on Road 62 and walk.4 The tower itself is not open to climbing.2,4 Please stay on the ground.

  1. Lookout Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Rex's Fire Lookout Page, https://www.firelookout.com/or/lookoutmtnu.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Lookout Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/lookout-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Lookout Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/lookout-mountain4.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Lookout Mountain – Every Lookout in Oregon, Cheryl Hill, https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/2021/10/22/lookout-mountain/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Oregon's Standing Lookouts, Cheryl Hill, https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/oregons-standing-lookouts/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Lookout Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Restored cab remounted by crane
Restored cab remounted by cranePhoto: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Lookout Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout Mtn. L.O.
Lookout Mtn. L.OPhoto: the Umatilla N.F., Jerry Gildemeister collection, Tom Boyd and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Lookout Mtn. L.O.
Lookout Mtn. L.OPhoto: the Umatilla N.F., Jerry Gildemeister collection, Tom Boyd and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Lookout Mtn. L.O.
Lookout Mtn. L.OPhoto: the Umatilla N.F., Jerry Gildemeister collection, Tom Boyd and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Lookout Mtn. L.O. in 2005
Lookout Mtn. L.O. in 2005 (2005)Photo: the Umatilla N.F., Jerry Gildemeister collection, Tom Boyd and Rex Kamstra, 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 location by 690 m.

    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 45.85110, −117.79220
    • NHLR: 45.85028, −117.78333

    The map uses the position from FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites).

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1948
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1935
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1948

    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, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, 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. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: 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
  4. FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: location, 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. Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) Gave us: 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
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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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