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Fire lookout · Klamath County, Oregon

Odell Butte Lookout

Lookout site since as early as 1907 (emergency lookout from 1915) on a Klamath County peak; the 30 ft R-6 tower (dated 1961 or 1963) still stands, staffed in summer, behind a vehicle gate.

Visit & stay

Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Public motor vehicles are prohibited beyond a gate on the road. Visitors walk about 0.8 mile from the gate. The tower is an active, staffed lookout.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Road 5815 leads from Highway 58 to Road 500. Park at the gated switchback, then walk the 0.8 mile road to the summit.
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerR-6 live-in flattop cab with catwalk on a 30 ft treated wood towerThe designs: R-6, L-4
Built of
Wood
Height
30 ft (9.1 m)
Elevation
6,931 ft (2,113 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Klamath County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.47083, −121.86345
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-odell-butte

View from the cab

What you see from the 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.

Downloads about 3.3 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. 1907 EventUsed as a patrol lookout as early as 1907, per the Register.Source: nhlr.org
  2. 1915 First staffedEstablished as an emergency lookout in 1915. A July 1915 ranger visit to the summit weighed a lookout station.Sources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1916 BuiltFrame cabin on a log crib. Dates disputed: the Register dates the crib to the 1920s; firelookout.com and a 2013 blog say 1916.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, cherylhill.net
  4. 1927 FireA newspaper item reported a lightning fire on Odell Butte in July 1927. A temporary lookout was stationed there that August.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1932 Replaced by a new structureAn L-4 cab on a 20 ft tower replaced the earlier cabin.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  6. 1942 StaffedThe lookout was on the Crescent district roster for 1942. In October a district guard closed the station for the winter.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1942 and 1961
  8. 1961 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  9. 1961 Replaced by a new structureThe Register gives 1961 for the 30 ft tower with R-6 cab.Source: nhlr.org
  10. 1963 Replaced by a new structurefirelookout.com and a 2013 blog give 1963 for the same 30 ft tower with R-6 cab.Sources: firelookout.com, cherylhill.net
  11. No record between 1963 and 2003
  12. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on March 1, 2003.Source: nhlr.org
  13. No record between 2003 and 2024
  14. 2024 StaffedA June 2024 visitor was invited up the tower and spoke with the lookout.Source: cherylhill.net
  15. TodayStandingIt still stands, as far as our sources know.

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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Odell Butte rises in the Deschutes National Forest in Klamath County. Firelookout.com puts it about 8 miles east of Crescent, but a 1953 survey note on Oregon Lookouts puts it about 9 miles west.1,2,3 The site has had a lookout since as early as 1907, when it was used as a patrol post.1 In 1915 it became an emergency lookout, after a ranger visited the summit that July to judge whether a station there made sense.1,3

Accounts differ on the first cabin. The Register dates the log crib to the 1920s and gives the cabin as 12 by 12 feet. Firelookout.com says the site was developed in 1916, and a 2013 blog gives the cabin as 14 by 14 feet.1,2,4 A 20-foot tower with an L-4 cab took its place in 1932.1

In July 1927 the Bend Bulletin reported a lightning fire on Odell Butte.3 That August, a temporary lookout there struggled with compass readings that local magnetic attraction skewed by 10 to 20 degrees.3

By 1942 the lookout was part of the Crescent district's summer roster. The station needed pack horses to reach its tower, and in October a district guard went up to close it for the winter.3

In April 1962 the Bend Bulletin reported that the old station would be replaced that summer with a 14-by-14-foot building on a 20-foot tower.3 The tower that stands today is 30 feet tall.1,2 The Register dates its R-6 cab to 1961, while firelookout.com and a 2013 blog say 1963.1,2,4 The sources do not explain the change in height.

The Register added the lookout on March 1, 2003.1

A 2013 visitor found the lookout staffed in summer and noticed the summit's many radio towers.4 A June 2024 visitor was invited up the tower and talked with the lookout.5 Vehicles are barred past a gate on the road, so visitors walk the last 0.8 mile.4,5 Because it is an active lookout, check with the Crescent Ranger District before you go.1

  1. Odell Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/odell-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Odell Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/odell.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Odell Butte - Forest Lookouts, Oregon Lookouts (oregonlookouts.weebly.com), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/odell-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Odell Butte - Every Lookout in Oregon, cherylhill.net (2013 visit), https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/2013/07/30/odell-butte/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Return to Odell Butte - Every Lookout in Oregon, cherylhill.net (2024 visit), https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/2024/06/22/return-to-odell-butte/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Odell Butte Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Odell Butte in 1916
Odell Butte in 1916 (1916)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Odell Butte in 1933
Odell Butte in 1933 (1933)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Odell Butte L.O.
Odell Butte L.OPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · 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.

Where sources disagree

We show disagreements between sources instead of quietly picking one. If you know which is right, please tell us.

  • Sources disagree on the year it was built.

    • NHLR: 1961
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1916
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1963

    Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, ownership, dates, photos, links National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.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: design, staffing, photos, 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. Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) Gave us: register numbers, links Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill, cherylhill.net) · No licence stated; facts only (name, agency, elevation, year built, design and height, status word, links). Posts' narrative and photos are not reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. 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

Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.