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Fire lookout · Deschutes County, Oregon

Paulina Peak Lookout Site

Deschutes County, OR summit L-4 ground cab built 1931-32 on Paulina Peak, removed 1968 or 1969; the summit is now a visitor parking area with an overlook.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Lookout cab removed in 1968 per the register and firelookout.com (1969 per Forest Lookouts); the Oregon Hikers guide describes a summit parking area and overlook today

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. Parking area just below the summit, with restrooms and interpretive signs at the overlook; cars are not allowed to drive to the summit in summer, and a shuttle runs from the visitor center

Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
Hike from Paulina Lake; the summit area can also be driven to in spring and fall

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 hip-roof ground cabin, 14x14 feetThe design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1915
Height
400 ft (121.9 m)
Elevation
7,985 ft (2,434 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Deschutes County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.68919, −121.25489
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-paulina-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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 3.5 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. 1914 StaffedChas. McNeff took over the lookout from G.T. Parker in September 1914 (Bend Bulletin item quoted on Forest Lookouts)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1915 BuiltA 12x18-foot cabin erected on the summit during summer 1915 (Forest Lookouts); the register dates the cabin it succeeded to 1917Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, firetower.org
  3. 1918 StaffedCora Leland installed as lookout; a July 1918 newspaper item quoted on Forest Lookouts called her the first woman lookout in OregonSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1920 StaffedVirginia Barry took up the post (Ontario Argus item quoted on Forest Lookouts)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1932 BuiltL-4 cab built, per the register and firelookout.com; Forest Lookouts dates the L-4 hip-roof ground cabin to 1931Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1932 and 1952
  7. 1952 StaffedSylvia Andrews listed as lookout for 1952 and 1953Source: firelookout.com
  8. 1954 StaffedSylvia Andrews reported as lookout in August 1954 (Bend Bulletin item quoted on Forest Lookouts)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1964 BuiltA new R-6 flat-roof lookout cab constructed on a short tower; no source says what it replacedSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1968 RemovedL-4 cab removed (register) or destroyed (firelookout.com) in 1968; the Oregon Hikers guide also gives 1917 to 1968Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonhikers.org
  11. 1969 EventForest Lookouts records a recommendation to declare the structure surplus and sell it for removal; the Oregon Hikers guide gives 1914 to 1969Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, oregonhikers.org
  12. No record between 1969 and 2011
  13. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: June 4, 2011Source: FFLOS register entry
  14. 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.

Paulina Peak is the high point on the rim of the Newberry Caldera, in the Deschutes National Forest in Deschutes County, Oregon.1,2

The Forest Lookouts site says the Forest Service erected a 12-by-18-foot cabin on the summit in the summer of 1915.3 The register says the lookout cab that came later was preceded by a cabin dated 1917, while firelookout.com dates the earlier cabin to 1915.1,4 The cab most sources describe is an L-4 design.1,3,4 The register and firelookout.com date it to 1932, while Forest Lookouts describes a 14-by-14-foot hip-roof ground cabin dated 1931.1,3,4

The summit was staffed from the early years.3 A Bend newspaper item quoted on the Forest Lookouts site reports that Chas. McNeff took over from G.T. Parker in September 1914.3 In 1918 a newspaper item named Mrs. Cora Leland of La Pine as the first woman lookout in Oregon, and possibly the first in the country.3 Virginia Barry took up the post in 1920.3 Sylvia Andrews is listed as lookout for 1952 and 1953,4 and a 1954 item names her again.3

In 1964 a new R-6 cab with a flat roof was built on a short tower.3 The register and firelookout.com say the L-4 cab was removed or destroyed in 1968.1,4 Forest Lookouts records that in 1969 the structure was recommended for surplus status, with a suggestion that the building be sold so it could be taken away.3 The Oregon Hikers guide gives both 1917 to 1968 and 1914 to 1969 in different passages.2

Today the hike starts at Paulina Lake, and the summit area can be driven to in spring and fall.2 The guide describes a parking area just below the summit, where restrooms and information signs sit near the overlook.2 In summer, cars cannot go all the way up to the summit, and the guide mentions a shuttle from the visitor center.2 The guide adds that the summit road dates from 1958, when a U.S. Air Force radar station was set up there, and that the station has since been taken away.2 No source we read says whether any part of the lookout remains.

  1. Paulina Peak Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/paulina-peak-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Paulina Peak Hike, Oregon Hikers Field Guide, https://www.oregonhikers.org/field_guide/Paulina_Peak_Hike (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Paulina Peak - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (Oregon), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/paulina-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Paulina Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/paulinapeak.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Paulina Peak Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Great Obsidian Bed, one of the world's largest and purest flows of black volvanic glass, viewed from Paulina Point Lookout
Great Obsidian Bed, one of the world's largest and purest flows of black volvanic glass, viewed from Paulina Point LookoutPhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Mary Helen Edgar at her Singer in Summer 1963 atop Paulina Peak
Mary Helen Edgar at her Singer in Summer 1963 atop Paulina Peak (1963)Photo: 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, 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, 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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