FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Wallowa County, Oregon

McGraw Mountain Lookout

Also known as McGraw

McGraw Mountain: 1934 pole-tower lookout replaced by an 82-ft timber tower (1964 or 1965); staffed until 1972, now called abandoned; still listed standing.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 14x14 flat-top cab on an 82-ft open timber tower; the 1934 station was a 14x14 L-4 cab on a 10-ft pole towerThe designs: L-4, R-6
Built of
Wood
Height
82 ft (25.0 m)
Elevation
6,009 ft (1,832 m)
Agency
US Forest Service, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Wallowa County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.17638, −116.77829
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-mcgraw-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 3.8 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. 1930 First staffedFire detection on the site since at least 1930; an August 1930 item names Cleve Loyd as lookout patrolman at McGrawSources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1934 Built10-ft pole tower with a 14x14 L-4 cab, the first station on the siteSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1944 StaffedJune 1944 notice: Kenneth Blevans to be lookout at McGraw that summer and fallSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1944 and 1964
  5. 1964 Builtfirelookout.com dates the present 82-ft tower to 1964, built half a mile from the 1934 locationSource: firelookout.com
  6. 1964 EventForest Service announced a new tower and house (June 1964); contract to Cook & Sorenson of Seattle, apparent low bid of $5,840 (August 1964); old tower declared obsolete and inadequateSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1965 BuiltNHLR and Forest Lookouts date the present 82-ft tower to 1965Sources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1967 FireLocal paper reports the lookout quite busy due to fires in the districtSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1971 StaffedLarry Leitke listed as lookoutSource: firelookout.com
  10. 1972 Last staffedfirelookout.com: staffed until 1972 and has seen only limited use sinceSource: firelookout.com
  11. No record between 1972 and 2022
  12. 2022 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 4, 2022 as US 1633, OR 151Source: nhlr.org
  13. 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.

McGraw Mountain sits in Wallowa County, Oregon, on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, at 6,009 feet by the National Historic Lookout Register's figure.1 Fire detection on the site goes back at least to 1930, when a Forest Service lookout patrolman worked there.1,2 The first tower was a 10-foot pole structure topped with a 14x14 cab, built in 1934.1,3

By 1964 that tower had been declared obsolete and inadequate. The Forest Service announced a replacement house and tower, using prefabricated materials it supplied itself.2 A Seattle firm had submitted the lowest bid so far, $5,840, and the new tower was to stand about half a mile from the old one.2 The sources disagree on the build year. The NHLR and the Forest Lookouts page date the present tower to 1965, while firelookout.com says 1964.1,3,2 The present tower is an 82-foot treated timber structure with an R-6 flat-top cab.1,3

Lookouts staffed the site for decades.3,2 A 1944 notice said Kenneth Blevans would work as lookout there, and firelookout.com lists Larry Leitke in 1971.2,3 In 1967 a local paper reported the station was quite busy because of fires in the district.2

Staffing ended in 1972. Firelookout.com says the tower was staffed until then, saw little use afterward, and is described as presently abandoned.3 The Forest Fire Lookout Association still lists McGraw as a standing tower, so the structure appears to remain even though it is no longer in regular use.3,4

The NHLR registered the tower on July 4, 2022, as US 1633 and OR 151.1 The sources read do not settle whether the public can visit or climb it. Check with the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest before planning a trip, and treat the tower as off-limits unless the forest says otherwise.3,1

  1. McGraw Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/mcgraw-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. McGraw Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/mcgraw-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. McGraw Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/mcgraw.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Oregon Lookouts (Standing), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/or-st/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

McGraw Lookout - 2018
McGraw Lookout - 2018 (2018)Photo: Rex Kamstra, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
McGraw in 2002
McGraw in 2002 (2002)Photo: 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 year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1965
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1934
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1965

    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, 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, height, 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) 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: 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
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, 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.