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Fire lookout · Linn County, Oregon

Minniece Point Lookout Site

Linn County, OR L-4 lookout cab built 1934 on the Willamette NF and gone by 1966; newspaper clippings name a lookout there in 1933-1936, and a 2023 visit found no remnants.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab gone by 1966; a 2023 visit report found no remnants of the tower

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. Inferred from the 2023 visit report, which describes dirt Forest Service roads and a small parking area; the report mentions no closure or permit

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Minimally maintained, unmarked trail that is hard to see; per the 2023 visit report

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 lookout cabThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,410 ft (1,344 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Willamette National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Linn County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.60216, −122.23598
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-minniece-point

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 3.6 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. 1931 EventNamed as one of eleven new emergency lookout stations for the Santiam district; telephone link planned for the next yearSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1933 StaffedPaul Ratzeburg back at work as lookout at 'Mines Rock' (August 1933 clipping), which Forest Lookouts files under Minniece PointSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1934 BuiltL-4 lookout cab builtSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1935 StaffedRatzeburg on lookout duty at 'Minnis Rock' from mid-June (September 1935 clipping)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1936 StaffedRatzeburg's summer lookout work at 'Minne Rock' (July 1936 clipping)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1936 and 1966
  7. 1966 RemovedCab gone by 1966 per the register; firelookout.com says 'Gone 1966'Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1966 and 2011
  9. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered May 11, 2011 on the Former Fire Lookout Sites registerSource: firetower.org
  10. 2023 Condition assessmentVisit report dated August 4, 2023: no remnants of the tower; rope and two permanent anchors suggest climbers use the siteSource: firetower.org
  11. 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.

Minniece Point is in Linn County, Oregon, on the Willamette National Forest, about nine miles southwest of Detroit.1,2

In 1931, forest supervisor C. C. Hall announced eleven new emergency lookout stations for the Santiam district, and Minniece Point was one of them.3 A telephone link was planned for the following year.3 An L-4 lookout cab went up there in 1934.1,2,3

Newspaper clippings reproduced on Forest Lookouts name Paul Ratzeburg as the lookout in 1933, 1935 and 1936.3 The clippings spell the place several ways, including Mines Rock, Minnis Rock and Minne Rock, so the match with Minniece Point rests on the Forest Lookouts page that groups them.3

The register says the cab was gone by 1966, and firelookout.com gives the same year.1,2

A visit report dated August 4, 2023, on the register says there are no remnants of the tower.1 The visitor reached the site over dirt Forest Service roads and found a small parking area.1 The trail is minimally maintained and unmarked, and it is hard to see.1 Rope and two permanent anchors suggest that rock climbers use the spot.1 The same visitor also praised the views of several volcanic mountains.1 Check with the Willamette National Forest before you go.

  1. Minniece Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/minniece-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Minniece Point Fire Lookout Cabin, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://www.firelookout.com/or/minniecepoint.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Minniece Point, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/minniece-point.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Minniece Point Lookout 1934 - 1966
Minniece Point Lookout 1934 - 1966 (1934)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Near tower site in 2023
Near tower site in 2023 (2023)Photo: 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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