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Fire lookout · Jackson County, Oregon

Mount McLoughlin Lookout Site

Jackson County, OR summit cupola lookout built 1917, replaced 1931, abandoned 1936 and destroyed or removed in 1955; a foundation is reported at the summit.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Second house destroyed or removed in 1955; sources describe a remaining foundation at 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. Summit lies in the Sky Lakes Wilderness and is reached by a hiking trail; no closure is mentioned in the sources read

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Five-mile Mt. McLoughlin Trail #3716 from the trailhead, with an elevation gain of about 4,000 feet; the Forest Service notes there is no water on the summit trail

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabCupola house twelve feet square with a six-foot-square cupola (1917); replacement house of 1931 set on a cement and stone foundationThe design: Cupola house
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1917
Height
Unknown
Elevation
9,495 ft (2,894 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Jackson County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.44447, −122.31562
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-mount-mcloughlin

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1917 BuiltCupola house erected on the summit; finished at the start of October 1917 (Willhite); the register and firelookout.com date the cabin to 1917Sources: firetower.org, willhiteweb.com, firelookout.com
  2. 1917 First staffedErnest W. Smith, the first lookout, from September 1917; he signaled by light to stations up to 20 miles awaySource: willhiteweb.com
  3. 1922 StaffedJ.F.G. Cone lookout for about eight years (Willhite); Forest Lookouts describes him as a sociable hermitSources: willhiteweb.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1931 Replaced by a new structureStorms and ice in 1930 weakened the house; a slightly larger replacement on a cement and stone foundation was completed in 1931Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  5. 1933 StaffedJames Radcliffe of Medford appointed lookout, taking up duties about July 1Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1935 EventPost unoccupied for the first fire season in several years; no reason givenSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1936 AbandonedOfficially abandoned in favor of lower points such as Robinson ButteSources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, willhiteweb.com
  8. No record between 1936 and 1955
  9. 1955 DestroyedDestroyed after vandalism and misuse; a crew pushed it over the side of the peak. The register says removed; firelookout.com says destroyedSources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. No record between 1955 and 1973
  11. 1973 EventPhoto caption: foundation of the second lookout (photo by Tom Lopez)Source: willhiteweb.com
  12. 1987 EventPhoto caption: foundation of the second lookoutSource: willhiteweb.com
  13. No record between 1987 and 2011
  14. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered March 26, 2011 as US 883, OR 250; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  15. 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.

The summit of Mount McLoughlin, also called Mount Pitt, in Jackson County, Oregon, once held a fire lookout.1,2 A cupola cabin went up there in 1917.1,3 That June the Forest Service had ordered three standard lookout houses for the Crater National Forest, one of them for this summit.2,4

Each house was twelve feet square, with a six-foot cupola that held the fire finder and maps.2 Pack animals were to haul the lumber up the peak, and no timber in the building ran longer than eight feet.4 The house was finished in early October.2,4 A 1916 report by Harold D. Foster had called a lookout on this peak impractical, citing deep snow, fog and cold, yet the house went up the next year.2

Ernest W. Smith took the post first, in September 1917, and could send light signals as far as 20 miles.4 From 1922, J.F.G. Cone held the post for about eight years.4 In 1925 a Crater National Forest officer wrote that the summit was not satisfactory and suggested other peaks.2

Storms and ice in 1930 weakened the house, so a slightly larger replacement on a cement and stone foundation went up in 1931.2,4 James Radcliffe was named lookout in 1933.2 In 1935 the post went unstaffed for the first fire season in several years, and no reason was given.2 In 1936 the summit was officially dropped, and lookout duty moved to lower points such as Robinson Butte.2,4

A 1952 newspaper item warned that the building was in such disrepair it might fall on someone, and said forest officials would probably tear it down.2 In 1955 it was destroyed.2 Vandalism and misuse were blamed, according to a crew member who was sent up to push it over the side of the peak.2 The register says it was removed, and firelookout.com says it was destroyed.1,3 The register also says the replacement was used for about one season, but the Forest Lookouts history names a lookout in 1933 and says the post was empty in 1935.1,2

Photo captions in the Willhite history show a foundation of the second lookout in 1973 and again in 1987.4 A hiking guide says the summit still has the foundation of a stone lookout shelter, and that cables and wires tied to the lookouts can be seen.5 The guide attributes the loss of the first wooden cabin to fierce winds, while the Forest Lookouts history gives storms and ice in 1930 as the reason for the replacement.5,2 The summit lies in the Sky Lakes Wilderness and is reached by the five-mile Mt. McLoughlin Trail, which the Forest Service says climbs about 4,000 feet from the trailhead.6,5

  1. Mount McLoughlin Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/mount-mcloughlin-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mount McLoughlin - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/mount-mcloughlin.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mount McLoughlin (Mount Pitt) Fire Lookout Cabin, FireLookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/mtmcloughlin.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Mount McLoughlin Lookout, Willhite Web, https://willhiteweb.com/oregon_lookouts/mount_mcloughlin/history_007.htm (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Mount McLoughlin, Oregon Hikers, https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Mount_McLoughlin (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Mt. McLoughlin Trail, Fremont-Winema National Forest, U.S. Forest Service, https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/fremont-winema/recreation/trails/mt-mcloughlin-trail (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Mount McLoughlin Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Lookout under construction in 1917
Lookout under construction in 1917 (1917)Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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: 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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