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Fire lookout · Lane County, Oregon

Mule (Spring Prairie) Mountain Lookout Site

Also known as Mule Mountain

Lane County cab built 1930, moved 1953 (1952 per another page), with a 40-41 ft L-4 tower; abandoned and burned in 1968; no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Abandoned in 1968 and disposed of by burning on August 22, 1968; the register lists it as gone.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent.

Access

Access unknown

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

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 model cab on a timber tower (1952 per one source)The design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1930
Height
40 ft (12.2 m)
Elevation
5,470 ft (1,667 m)
Agency
U.S.Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Lane County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.81102, −122.20839
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-mule-spring-prairie-mountain

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 3.9 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 BuiltCab built at a location 5,550 ftSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1930 and 1952
  3. 1952 RebuiltNew timber tower with an L-4 cab, one mile southeast of the original lookout (Oregon Lookouts page)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1953 MovedCab relocated one mile southeast to 5,470 ft (register and firelookout.com)Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  5. No record between 1953 and 1968
  6. 1968 AbandonedAbandoned in 1968Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. 1968 BurnedLookout disposed of by burning, August 22, 1968Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1968 and 2011
  9. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered May 11, 2011 as US 979, OR 337; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  10. 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.

A cab was built on Mule (Spring Prairie) Mountain in 1930, at about 5,550 feet in Lane County, in the Willamette National Forest.1,2

The cab was moved in 1953, about a mile southeast to 5,470 feet.1,2 Another page dates a new timber tower with an L-4 cab, built a mile southeast of the first lookout, to 1952.3 That page gives the height as 40 feet in one quote and 41 feet in another.3 The register adds a caution: USGS figures point to a possible 52-foot tower.1 That figure does not match the 40- and 41-foot heights.1,3

The register says the lookout was abandoned in 1968 and is now gone.1 The Oregon Lookouts page is more specific: it records the lookout as burned on August 22, 1968.3

No source describes what, if anything, remains at the site today, or whether it is open to visitors.

  1. Mule (Spring Prairie) Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/mule-spring-prairie-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Mule (Spring Prairie) Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/mulespringprairie.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Mule Mountain #2 - FOREST LOOKOUTS, Oregon Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/mule-mountain-2.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Mule Mountain Lookout 1961
Mule Mountain Lookout 1961 (1961)Photo: Mark Swift collection, via 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, 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: design, 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, 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.