FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Wallowa County, Oregon

Nebo Peak Lookout Site

Wallowa County, OR lookout on the Wallowa-Whitman NF: tower of disputed height dated 1933, staffed 1936-1946, removed or destroyed in the 1970s. No source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Register says removed in the 1970s; firelookout.com says destroyed in the 1970s. The Forest Lookouts page's only 'Removed' label sits in its survey-mark block, not the lookout entry, so it is not used. No source describes what remains

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 towerRegister: 94-foot treated timber L-6 tower with cabin, trimmed to 72 feet in 1955 with a 10x10 foot cab added. firelookout.com: 30-foot pole L-4 tower in 1933The designs: L-4, L-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
7,518 ft (2,292 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Wallowa County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.14251, −117.09497
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-nebo-peak

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 3.9 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. 1923 EventNote found on the wall of the Nebo Lookout cabin, dated 1923; firelookout.com dates a log cabin to the 1920sSources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  2. 1933 BuiltTower built in 1933; the register and firelookout.com disagree on its height and typeSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1936 StaffedLee Stickler listed as known lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  4. 1941 StaffedLynn Johnson listed as known lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  5. 1943 StaffedJim Jackman listed as known lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  6. 1946 StaffedChester Powjowsky listed as known lookout personnelSource: firelookout.com
  7. 1955 AlteredTrimmed to 72 feet and a 10x10 foot cab added, per the registerSource: firetower.org
  8. No record between 1955 and 1970
  9. 1970 RemovedDecade only given (1970s). Register says removed; firelookout.com says destroyed. Forest Lookouts page has no lookout-specific statusSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. No record between 1970 and 2011
  11. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered August 20, 2011; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  12. 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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Nebo Peak stands in Wallowa County, Oregon, in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, at 7,518 feet, or 2,291 meters.1,2

A log cabin was on the peak by the 1920s.2 A note found on its wall in 1923 is quoted by the Forest Lookouts site.3 The same page describes the lookout as a retired sheepman.3

The sources disagree about the tower.1,2 The register says a 94-foot treated timber tower with a cabin was built in 1933, and that in 1955 it was trimmed to 72 feet and given a 10-by-10-foot cab.1 The firelookout.com listing describes a 30-foot pole tower from 1933 instead.2

The firelookout.com listing names four known lookout personnel: Lee Stickler in 1936, Lynn Johnson in 1941, Jim Jackman in 1943 and Chester Powjowsky in 1946.2

The register says the tower was removed in the 1970s.1 The firelookout.com listing says it was destroyed in the 1970s.2

No source we read describes what, if anything, remains of the lookout today, or whether the public can reach the summit.1,2 The Forest Lookouts page also reproduces a survey-mark record that the US Geological Survey described in 1954. It gives the Forest Service's location for the mark: 3.5 miles by trail southwest of Lick Creek Ranger Station.3

  1. Nebo Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/nebo-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Nebo Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/nebopeak.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Nebo Peak, Forest Lookouts (Rex's Fire Lookout Page), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/nebo-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, 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.