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Fire lookout · Multnomah County, Oregon

Nesmith Point Lookout Site

Tent cabin on Nesmith Point (Multnomah Co., OR) in 1929, a 14x14 lookout on a 12-foot tower by 1934, gone by 1963; no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed around 1959 to 1963 per sources; Wikipedia says destroyed; one hike guide mentions an old fire lookout on the climb, unconfirmed. No source describes the site now in detail.

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. On foot only: the one road into the peak runs through the closed Bull Run Watershed, so legal access is by trail (Wikipedia).

Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Trail #428 climbs from an Interstate 84 frontage road. Friends of the Columbia Gorge lists the out-and-back hike at 10.2 miles with about 3,700 feet of gain, rated expert.

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerTent cabin (1929), then a standard 14 x 14 lookout station on a 12-foot tower (1934); the register calls the cab an L-4The design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1929
Height
12 ft (3.7 m)
Elevation
3,880 ft (1,183 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Multnomah County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.58761, −122.00724
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-nesmith-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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 4.0 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. 1929 BuiltTent cabin erected on the siteSource: firetower.org
  2. 1929 EventAlidade established at the pointSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1934 EventRoad joining the Larch Mountain and Oak Grove roads recently finished, with a branch to the station; CCC crew from Latourelle Prairie camp helped with new buildings in SeptemberSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1934 Replaced by a new structureOctober 1934 notice: standard 14 x 14 lookout station on a 12-foot tower being completed; register and firelookout.com say an L-4 cab replaced the tent in the 1930sSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  5. 1937 EventPlanned line change (August 1937): Nesmith Point and other stations to be served through Eagle Creek and Tanner Butte instead of Indian MountainSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1938 EventCoast and Geodetic Survey described the survey station as the finial of the Forest Service lookout house on Nesmith PointSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1948 EventSurvey station recovered in good conditionSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1959 RemovedLookout removed, circa 1959, per the Oregon lookout historySource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1963 RemovedGone by 1963 per the register; firelookout.com gives Gone 1963Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  10. No record between 1963 and 2010
  11. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered in the Former Fire Lookout Sites register on August 26, 2010 (US 619)Source: 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 9 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Nesmith Point is the highest point on the lip of the Columbia River Gorge 1. A tent cabin went up on the summit in 1929, and an alidade was established there the same year 2,3. The register says an L-4 cab replaced the tent in the 1930s 2,4. An October 1934 newspaper notice reported a standard 14 x 14 lookout station on a 12-foot tower being completed there, one that looked directly down on Cascade Locks 3.

In September 1934, CCC crew members from the Latourelle Prairie camp were helping bring new buildings toward completion 3. A road joining the Larch Mountain and Oak Grove roads had recently been finished, with a branch running out to the station 3. In May 1937 a CCC crew was working on the Nesmith Point Trail at Warrendale 3. That August, a planned line change was to route Nesmith Point and other stations through Eagle Creek and Tanner Butte instead of Indian Mountain 3.

Sources do not agree on when the cab came down 2,3. An Oregon lookout history says it was removed around 1959 3. The register says it was gone by 1963, and firelookout.com also gives 1963 2,4. Wikipedia says the lookout was destroyed but gives no date 1.

No source describes the summit in detail today. A hike guide from Friends of the Columbia Gorge says that partway up the climb an old road leads to what it calls an old fire lookout and an abandoned outhouse 5. It does not say whether that is the 1930s cab or something else, so it stays unconfirmed 5. A 1938 Coast and Geodetic Survey description named the survey station as the finial of the lookout house, and a 1948 recovery note said it was in good condition 3. No source says whether that mark survives.

Legal access is by trail only, because the one road into the peak runs through the closed Bull Run Watershed 1. Trail #428 climbs from an Interstate 84 frontage road 1. Friends lists the out-and-back hike at 10.2 miles with about 3,700 feet of gain, rates it expert, and promises great Gorge views from the top 5.

  1. Nesmith Point, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nesmith_Point (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Nesmith Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/nesmith-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Nesmith Point, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/nesmith-point.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Nesmith Point Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/nesmithpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Nesmith Point, Friends of the Columbia Gorge, https://gorgefriends.org/find-a-hike/nesmith-point/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Nesmith Point Lookout 1945
Nesmith Point Lookout 1945 (1945)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Nesmith Point Lookout 1929
Nesmith Point Lookout 1929 (1929)Photo: Ed Hayman, Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Nesmith Point Lookout
Nesmith Point LookoutPhoto: Howard Verschoor 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: 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, 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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