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Fire lookout · Curry County, Oregon

Pearsoll Peak Lookout

A 1954 L-4 lookout, built from a kit to replace a 1920 cupola cabin, on Oregon's Pearsoll Peak; volunteer-restored, it survived the 2002 Biscuit Fire and opens seasonally.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Opened each spring by the Sand Mountain Society; season June 1 to September 30. Visitors have modified the building, per the society; no posted visitor rules are in the sources read.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Last 7 miles of road take about 1.5 hours in 4-low with a high-clearance vehicle; the final 1.5 miles is a moderately difficult hiking trail.
Staffing
Unknown (as of undated)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabL-4 ground cab with hip roof and outriggers, built from a kit in 1954 to replace a D-6 cupola cabin of 1920The designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
Unknown
Elevation
5,007 ft (1,526 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Curry County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.29875, −123.84560
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-pearsoll-peak

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.

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Or see what it could see on the map: the ground in its line of sight.

History

Then and now

  1. 1920 BuiltD-6 cupola cabin started on the peakSource: firelookout.com
  2. No record between 1920 and 1954
  3. 1954 Replaced by a new structureCupola cabin replaced by the present L-4 lookout, built from a kitSources: nhlr.org, sandmountain.org
  4. No record between 1954 and 1991
  5. 1991 RestoredSand Mountain Society and district staff re-framed west and south walls, rebuilt shutters and replaced the roof; outriggers deferredSource: sandmountain.org
  6. 1992 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered November 27, 1992 as US 51, OR 9; nominated by Dottie BoydSource: nhlr.org
  7. 1994 RestoredRestoration by Illinois Valley Ranger District and Sand Mountain Society completed, per registerSource: nhlr.org
  8. 2001 RestoredOutriggers replaced after snow snapped them; roofing and lower sheathing removed; attic insulation removedSource: sandmountain.org
  9. 2002 FireLookout survived the Biscuit Fire Complex; conifers and brush within 50 feet burnedSource: sandmountain.org
  10. 2008 AlteredNorth deck, which gave way the prior winter, disassembled and documented for reuseSource: sandmountain.org
  11. 2011 RestoredShutters latched to eyebolts in the west window sill fluttered in a 2011 windstorm until the bolts tore the sill out; west wall re-framed; original floor lifted and cataloguedSource: sandmountain.org
  12. 2012 RestoredOriginal fir floor re-laid with the proper orientation and varnished clear as in 1954Source: sandmountain.org
  13. 2013 FireLabrador Fire; access to the lookout closed off and onSource: sandmountain.org
  14. 2017 FireChetco Bar Fire; access to the lookout closed off and onSource: sandmountain.org
  15. 2018 FireKlondike Fire; access to the lookout closed off and onSource: sandmountain.org
  16. 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.

Pearsoll Peak Lookout stands on the highest point in the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, about 10 miles west-northwest of Selma, Oregon, in Curry County.1,2 Published elevations differ: the register gives 5,007 feet, while the Sand Mountain Society and firelookout.com give 5,098.2,1,3

A D-6 cupola cabin went up on the peak in 1920.3 In 1954 it was replaced by the L-4 lookout that stands today. The society suspects the building was made from a kit that had been stored for some time.2,1

The register lists it as US 51, OR 9, registered on November 27, 1992, and nominated by Dottie Boyd, a Forest Service district archaeologist.2 An Oregon lookout list marks it as standing.4

The Sand Mountain Society, a volunteer group, took the lookout on as a restoration project. In 1991 its members and district staff re-framed the west and south walls, rebuilt the shutters and replaced the roof, leaving the outriggers for later.1 The register says restoration was completed in 1994.2

In 2001 snow snapped several outriggers after the shutters were left up over winter, so crews replaced them and removed attic insulation where mice had nested.1 In 2002 the freshly painted lookout survived the Biscuit Fire. Conifers and brush within 50 feet were torched, and the society credits the new finishes and an early shutter drop for saving the building.1 In 2008 a north deck that had given way was taken apart and recorded so its material could be reused.1

In 2011, during a windstorm, shutters latched to eyebolts in the west window sill fluttered until the bolts tore the sill out, and the west wall had to be re-framed. The original fir floor, which had been laid the wrong way, was relaid in 2012 and varnished clear, as it was in 1954.1

Fires have also shut the way in. The society names the Labrador (2013), Chetco Bar (2017) and Klondike (2018) fires as closures that came and went over several years.1

The society opens the lookout each spring, lowers the shutters each fall and now handles the annual upkeep.1 Its season runs June 1 to September 30.1 The last 7 miles of road take about 1.5 hours in low range in a high-clearance vehicle, and the final 1.5 miles is a moderately difficult hike.1 Visitors have made changes to the building, and the society's pages do not spell out any visitor rules.1

  1. Pearsoll Peak Lookout, Sand Mountain Society, https://sandmountain.org/projects/pearsoll-peak/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Pearsoll Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/pearsoll-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Pearsoll Peak Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/pearsollpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Oregon lookout list, firelookout.org, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Pearsoll Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Pearsoll Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Photo of Pearsoll Peak Lookout
Photo: Elaine Broskie, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Pearsoll peak cupola cabin
Pearsoll peak cupola cabinPhoto: Nomeca Hartwell and Sam Watson, via firelookout.com · source
Pearsoll Peak in 2018
Pearsoll Peak in 2018 (2018)Photo: Nomeca Hartwell and Sam Watson, 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.

    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1920
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1954

    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, register numbers, agency, 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. Recreation Information Database (recreation.gov) Gave us: ownership, access Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 12 Oct 2026
  4. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: what it is built of, design, dates, 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
  5. Sand Mountain Society Gave us: dates, links Sand Mountain Society (sandmountain.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, dimensions, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the Sand Mountain Society page it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR and FFLOS records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  6. 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
  7. Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) Gave us: 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
  8. FFLA chapters, affiliates and Friends groups: lookout pages FFLA chapters and Friends groups (each link names the group) · Links to the groups' own pages; facts only from the California-South chapter's tower table (register page, operator, condition). No text or photos reproduced. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  9. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, staffing, 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.