FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Wasco County, Oregon

Post Point Lookout Site

Mount Hood NF lookout site in Wasco County: a 1920s rag camp, then pole, L-6 and R-6 towers; the last tower was lost in a 1994 lift attempt and no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. The last tower was destroyed in 1994 during an attempt to move its cab and top half; FFLA lists it as gone

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
Cab on a towerSuccessive towers: 40-ft pole L-4 (about 1937), 82-ft treated timber L-6 (1940s), 84-ft treated timber R-6 with flat cab (1962)The designs: L-4, L-6, R-6
Built of
Wood
Built
1937
Height
Unknown
Elevation
3,702 ft (1,128 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service (Mount Hood National Forest)
Land
Federal land
Location
Wasco County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.19861, −121.50181
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-post-point

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 3.8 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. 1920 EventDeveloped as a rag camp; sources give only the 1920s, so the year is the decade startSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1932 EventOregonian item quoted on the county listing: a new ladder and platform, 130 feet high, at Post Point; does not match the 40-ft pole tower storySource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1934 EventPanorama photographs taken by Robert Snyder, per county listingSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1936 EventAssigned telephone ring for this station, per county listingSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1937 Built40-ft pole L-4 tower, about 1937Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  6. 1940 Replaced by a new structure82-ft treated timber L-6 tower; sources give only the 1940sSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  7. No record between 1940 and 1962
  8. 1962 Built84-ft treated timber R-6 tower with flat cabSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  9. 1964 AbandonedLookout deactivated, per county listingSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1964 and 1994
  11. 1994 DestroyedAttempt to lift cab and top half six miles east to become a rental failed; the load was dropped after lifting from the lower tower. Firelookout.com and county listing say destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  12. No record between 1994 and 2010
  13. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register, US 639 / OR 71Source: firetower.org
  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 10 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Post Point sits in Wasco County, Oregon, inside the Mount Hood National Forest, at 3,702 feet (1,128 meters).1 The site began as a rag camp, which the register dates to the 1920s.1 The register says a 40-foot pole L-4 tower, put up around 1937, took the camp's place.1 Firelookout.com gives the same pole tower and a date of about 1937.2

The early history is not settled. A 1932 Sunday Oregonian item, quoted on a county listing, describes a new ladder and platform at Post Point that totals 130 feet.3 That does not match the 40-foot tower, and the sources do not reconcile the two accounts, so the story reports both.1,3

The 40-foot tower gave way to an L-6 tower of treated timber, 82 feet tall, in the 1940s.1,2 In 1962 an R-6 tower of treated timber, 84 feet tall with a flat cab, went up.1,2,3

The county listing also records a set of panorama photographs taken by Robert Snyder in 1934, and a 1936 telephone ring assigned to the station.3 The lookout was deactivated in 1964.3

The tower's end came in 1994, in an unusual way.1 The register describes a bid to lift the cab and upper half six miles east and turn them into a rental.1 An Army Chinook helicopter could not handle the weight, so the piece was let go almost as soon as it left the lower section.1 Firelookout.com and the county listing both say the tower was destroyed that year.2,3

Today, the Forest Fire Lookout Association lists the site as a tower that is gone.4 We found no source that describes what, if anything, remains at the site now, and none that says whether the public can visit it.

  1. Post Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/post-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  2. Post Point Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/postpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  3. Wasco County - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (oregonlookouts.weebly.com), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/wasco-county.html (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩
  4. Oregon Lookouts (by County), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/or-co/ (accessed 2026-10-10). ↩

Photos

Photo of Post Point Lookout Site
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, what it is built of, 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, 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.