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Fire lookout · Harney County, Oregon

P-Ranch Lookout

Also known as P Ranch (USFWS)

Malheur refuge tower built by the CCC in 1933 near the original P Ranch; closed at its base for wildlife, viewable from the road.

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. Closed to public access most of the year for bird nesting habitat (register). The area around the base was closed due to wildlife in April 2024. Tower remains available for emergency use.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
View from the road, the parking lot or the Riverview trail; reached from Frenchglen by the Steens Mountain Loop and Center Patrol Road, following the P-Ranch signs (April 2024 visit)
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower72-foot steel Aermotor tower with a 7 by 7 foot metal cabThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Built
1933
Height
72 ft (21.9 m)
Elevation
4,199 ft (1,280 m)
Agency
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
Land
Federal land
Location
Harney County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.82860, −118.88560
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-p-ranch

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 3.6 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. 1933 BuiltBuilt by the Civilian Conservation Corps near the site of the original P RanchSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, theroamingcivic.com
  2. 1935 EventThe site became part of the adjacent Wildlife RefugeSource: theroamingcivic.com
  3. 1947 EventThe main P Ranch house burned (the ranch house, not the lookout)Source: theroamingcivic.com
  4. No record between 1947 and 2002
  5. 2002 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered July 16, 2002; nominated by Howard VerschoorSource: nhlr.org
  6. 2012 Condition assessmentVisit May 15, 2012: lowest stairs overgrown, tower apparently unused; site listed it as abandonedSource: cherylhill.net
  7. 2024 Condition assessmentVisit April 2024: tower standing; base area closed due to wildlife; turkey vultures roosting on itSource: theroamingcivic.com
  8. 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.

P Ranch Lookout is a 72-foot Aermotor tower on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, about a mile east of Frenchglen in Harney County.1,2 The Civilian Conservation Corps built it in 1933 close to where the original P Ranch had stood.1,3 The same work demolished most of the ranch buildings, and in 1935 the site became part of the adjacent refuge.3 The main ranch house burned in 1947.3

Its purpose is not clear. One listing calls it primarily a wildlife-observation tower, and a 2012 visitor wondered whether it was ever used for spotting fires, since the area has few trees.2,4 I found no source that records a fire spotted from it.

The register says the tower is shut to visitors for most of the year because of bird nesting habitat, though it stays available for emergency use.1 A 2012 visit found the lowest stairs overgrown, and that visitor's listing marked the tower as abandoned.4 By April 2024 the tower was standing, and a visitor found the area around its base closed because of wildlife.3 The same visitor could see it from the road, the parking lot and the Riverview trail, and enjoyed watching turkey vultures roost on it at night.3

If you go, the view from the road or the trail is the way to see it. Please respect the closure around the base.

  1. P-Ranch Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, nhlr.org, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/p-ranch-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. P Ranch Fire Lookout Tower, Rex's Forest Fire Lookout Page (firelookout.com), https://www.firelookout.com/or/pranch.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Lookout Towers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, The Roaming Civic, https://theroamingcivic.com/2024/04/11/malheur-national-wildlife-refuge/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. P Ranch, Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill), https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/2012/05/22/p-ranch/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of P-Ranch Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
P Ranch L.O. in 2011
P Ranch L.O. in 2011 (2011)Photo: Rex Kamstra, 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.

Sources

  1. National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, 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: what it is built of, design, 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: 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: height, 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, 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.