FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Marion County, Oregon

Outerson Mountain Lookout Site

Willamette NF ground L-4 cab built in 1934, with lookouts reported in 1921 and 1929. Removed or destroyed in 1962. No source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed in 1962 per the register and Forest Lookouts page; firelookout.com says destroyed that year

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
Ground-level cabGround L-4 cab, 14 x 14 ft per the Forest Lookouts pageThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1934
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,220 ft (1,591 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Marion County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.72943, −121.94949
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-outerson-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 a typical height for a lookout like it.

Downloads about 4.2 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. 1921 StaffedJuly 1921 item says C.E. Harritt was to start as lookout for the Santiam reserve at Outerson Park; unclear whether that is the summitSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1929 StaffedSeptember 1929 item names Paul Bayless as Outerson Mountain lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1934 BuiltGround L-4 cab; register credits the USFS, Forest Lookouts page credits the CCC with a 14 x 14 ft houseSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1934 and 1962
  5. 1962 RemovedRegister and Forest Lookouts say removed; firelookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1962 and 2010
  7. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered September 19, 2010Source: firetower.org
  8. 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.

Outerson Mountain is a former lookout site in the Willamette National Forest, about 10 miles east of Detroit in Marion County, Oregon.1,2 The site stands at 5,220 feet.1

The register files the site as a ground lookout, meaning it had no tower.1 It credits the U.S. Forest Service with building an L-4 cab there in 1934.1 The Forest Lookouts page gives the same year, but credits the Civilian Conservation Corps with building a 14-by-14-foot L-4 lookout house.3 The two accounts name different builders, and both are reported here.

A July 1921 newspaper item quoted on the Forest Lookouts page reported that C.E. Harritt had left for Outerson Park to start work as a Santiam lookout.3 The item does not say whether Outerson Park is the summit.3 In September 1929 another item named Paul Bayless as the Outerson Mountain lookout, a man who had come from Michigan State Forestry College to take a Santiam position.3

The register and the Forest Lookouts page both say the cab was removed in 1962.1,3 firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year.2 The sources agree on the year but not on how the cab ended.

No source describes what remains at the site today, and none says whether the place can be reached or is open to visitors.1,2,3 A Santiam Canyon article about old trails recalls the old Boulder Ridge Trail, which once linked this lookout with the Triangulation Peak lookout.4 It does not say whether that trail can still be walked.4 Anyone planning a visit should check current conditions with the Willamette National Forest first.

  1. Outerson Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/outerson-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Outerson Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/outersonmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Outerson Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts Oregon, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/outerson-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Phantom Trails of the Santiam Canyon, Pacific City, https://pacificcity.org/Stories/PhantomTrailsoftheSantiamCanyon.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Outerson Mountain Lookout panoramic 5-21-34
Outerson Mountain Lookout panoramic 5-21-34Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · 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.

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: what it is built of, design, 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, 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.