FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Douglas County, Oregon

Pickett Butte Lookout

A 1948 L-4 timber tower on the Umpqua National Forest, still staffed in fire season and rented as a cabin the rest of the year.

Visit & stay

You can rent this lookout for overnight stays through recreation.gov.

Season
October 15 through July 15
Getting there
High clearance or four wheel drive vehicles are recommended for travel to this site, and guests must bring several of their own amenities.

Overview Perched atop Pickett Butte at an elevation of 3,200 feet, this lookout offers visitors a unique lodging experience in Umpqua National Forest in southwest Oregon. After climbing 40 feet up on a very narrow steep stairway to the one-room structure, guests are rewarded with panoramic views of the entire Jackson Creek Drainage and much of the lower elevation lands around the town of Tiller. The original lookout was 25 feet tall and built in 1934. In 1948 the tower was replaced with the current flat top structure. The tower is available for reservations October 15 through July 15 (lookout is utilized for fire season during the summer months). The roads to the lookout are not plowed, nor are they maintained for passenger cars. High clearance or four wheel drive vehicles are recommended for travel to this site, and guests must bring several of their own amenities. Please be aware that while very uncommon, during winter months guests may need to snowmobile, ski or snowshoe up to four miles to reach the lookout. Recreation Hiking, birding and wildlife viewing are popular among guests. Seasonal changes envelope the area as snowmelt gives rise to spring flowers and vivid autumn colors welcome a landscape dusted with snow. Guests may enjoy a day of scenic driving along a portion of the 172-miles Rogue-Umpqua National Scenic Byway. Mountain and river scenery unfold along the highway, showcasing everything from rolling oak-covered hills and towering coniferous forests to roaring white water rapids and incised inter-canyon lava flows. Swimming at the Three C Rock Picnic Area, about 7 miles from the lookout, is also a refreshing way to spend a warm summer afternoon. Facilities The lookout cabin is a 12 x 12 room, set 40 feet above the ground. It is furnished with a single bed, and a small table and chair, and is equipped with a propane heater, lanterns, cooking stove with oven and a refrigerator (propane is provided). A vault toilet is located at the lookout site. There is a pulley system available to transport items from the ground to the lookout (use at your own risk). There is no water at the site, so visitors must bring plenty for drinking, cooking and washing. Potable water is available at a spigot in front of the Tiller Ranger Station office (20 minutes away via car). Guests must bring several of their own supplies, including food, cooking utensils, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, towels, dish soap, matches, cooking gear, toilet paper and garbage bags. There is no trash service. Pack out all food and garbage. Natural Features In 1898, homesteader William T. Pickett rode into this area on horseback and decided to stay and build a life and home. Perched atop the butte named after him, the Pickett Butte Lookout offers a view of the entire Jackson Creek Drainage and much of the lower elevation lands around the town of Tiller. The Rogue-Umpqua Divide, south and east of Pickett Butte, has scenic peak landmarks, which are capped with snow until early summer. Water is abundant in streams and a handful of lakes in the area, and diverse plant communities provide habitat for abundant wildlife ranging from hummingbird to black bear. Learn more about bear safety. Nearby Attractions Visitors may want to take some time to visit nearby Crater Lake National Park for a glimpse into the area's fascinating geological and cultural history.

Book on recreation.gov

Rental details from recreation.gov, checked 19 Oct 2026. Rules, fees and seasons change, so confirm on the booking page before you go. Data source: ridb.recreation.gov

Access

Open to the public. Rentable via Recreation.gov Oct 15–Jul 15; staffed by Forest Service during fire season.

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Access roads unplowed/unmaintained for passenger cars; steep narrow 40-ft stairway to the cab.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerL-4The designs: L-4, L-5
Built of
Wood
Height
41 ft (12.5 m)
Elevation
3,258 ft (993 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Douglas County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.94342, −122.85502
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 19 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-pickett-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 3.4 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. 1934 BuiltOriginal 25-foot L-5 pole tower built.Sources: recreation.gov, firelookout.com
  2. 1948 Replaced by a new structureReplaced by the current 41-foot timber tower with L-4 cab.Sources: recreation.gov, firelookout.com
  3. 1958 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  4. No record between 1958 and 1998
  5. 1998 Last staffedfirelookout.com states it was staffed up to the 1998 fire season before moving to the rental program.Source: firelookout.com
  6. 2000 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, September 2000.Source: nhlr.org
  7. 2001 StaffedReturned to active staffing starting in 2001 while remaining an off-season rental.Source: firelookout.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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Pickett Butte takes its name from William T. Pickett, a homesteader who rode into the Jackson Creek drainage on horseback in 1898 and settled near the butte that now carries his name.1 The Forest Service put up the first lookout there in 1934, a 25-foot pole tower.1,2 That structure didn't last: in 1948 the district replaced it with a 41-foot treated-timber tower topped by an L-4 cab — the National Historic Lookout Register describes the cab as 14 feet square, while Recreation.gov's facilities listing calls it a 12-by-12-foot room — the building that still stands today.3,1,2 One register lists the construction date as 1958 rather than 1948, so the exact year of the current tower is not fully settled between sources.3,1

The lookout sits on the Umpqua National Forest in southwest Oregon, giving a clear view over the Jackson Creek drainage and toward the peaks of the Rogue-Umpqua Divide.1,2 It was staffed as an active fire lookout for decades, continuing through the 1998 fire season.2 After that it moved onto the Forest Service's recreation rental program, but demand and fire-detection needs brought it back into service: it was staffed again starting in 2001, and the Forest Service has kept using it for summer fire watch ever since, even while renting it out the rest of the year.3,2

Today Pickett Butte works a dual role. It's on the National Historic Lookout Register, registered there in September 2000, and it remains in use for actual fire lookout work during fire season.3 Because it is still equipped with a fire finder and other lookout gear, overnight guests get a close look at a working historic site rather than a stripped-down cabin.3 The cabin can be rented through Recreation.gov from October 15 through July 15, outside the fire season.3,1 Reaching it requires a climb up a steep, narrow 40-foot stairway, and the access roads are not plowed or maintained for passenger cars, so visitors in winter should be ready for four-wheel-drive travel or, in snow, a hike, ski, or snowmobile ride of up to four miles.1

  1. Pickett Butte Lookout, Umpqua National Forest, Recreation.gov, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234149 (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Pickett Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/pickettbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Pickett Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/pickett-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Photo of Pickett Butte Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Pickett Butte in 1943
Pickett Butte in 1943 (1943)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Howard Verschoor, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Pickett Butte L.O.
Pickett Butte L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service, Howard Verschoor, and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Pickett Butte in 2008
Pickett Butte in 2008 (2008)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service, Howard Verschoor, and 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.

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: 1958
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1948
    • recreation.gov: 1934
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1948

    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, 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, rental details, links Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association: lookout rentals Gave us: rental details, links Forest Fire Lookout Association rentals list (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only (state, name, booking link, manager, closure note), no prose copied. The FFLA says it is not involved in managing any rental program. · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  5. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: design, height, 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
  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. 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.