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Fire lookout · Jackson County, Oregon

Ragsdale Butte Lookout Site

Jackson County, OR lookout on Ragsdale Butte: rag camp 1933, L-4 cab 1939, removed, destroyed or burned 1962-63; no source describes the site now.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab removed, destroyed or burned in 1962-63; the sources disagree on the year and the manner. No source describes the site now.

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
Ground-level cabRag camp (1933), later an L-4 cab (1939)The design: L-4
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1933
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,748 ft (1,447 m)
Agency
Oregon Dept. of Forestry (per the register); Forest Lookouts files the site under Umpqua National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Jackson County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.78906, −122.78320
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-ragsdale-butte

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 3.9 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 BuiltRag camp set up on the north summit, per the register; firelookout.com calls it a campSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1933 EventSeptember 1933 paper says the CCC would build a 10x10 lookout before snow; no source says it was builtSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1934 EventRoad crew at work building the road to Ragsdale Peak lookout, per the Medford Mail TribuneSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1939 Replaced by a new structureL-4 cab replaced the rag campSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  5. 1941 StaffedBob Mooney given the position of lookout man, per the Medford Mail TribuneSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1941 and 1962
  7. 1962 Destroyedfirelookout.com says destroyed 1962Source: firelookout.com
  8. 1962 RemovedRegister says the L-4 cab was removed around 1962Source: firetower.org
  9. 1963 BurnedForest Lookouts says the lookout burned by the Forest Service in 1963Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1963 and 2011
  11. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered March 27, 2011 as US 893Source: firetower.org
  12. 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.

Ragsdale Butte is in Jackson County, Oregon, at 1,447 meters (4,748 feet).1

The Former Fire Lookout Sites register says a rag camp went up on the north summit in 1933 and was replaced in 1939 by an L-4 cab.1,2 A September 1933 Roseburg paper said the CCC was to build a 10-by-10 lookout before snow fell.3 The register calls the 1933 structure a rag camp, and firelookout.com calls it a camp.1,2

In May 1934 the Medford Mail Tribune reported that the Rogue River National Forest's road superintendent had a road crew at work building the road to what it called Ragsdale Peak lookout.3

In May 1941 the Medford Mail Tribune reported that Bob Mooney had been given the job of lookout man at the Ragsdale Butte station and would start within days.3

The sources name different agencies.1,3 The register lists the Oregon Department of Forestry as administrator.1 The Forest Lookouts page heads its entry "Umpqua National Forest," and the 1934 road item refers to the Rogue River National Forest.3

The register says the L-4 cab was removed around 1962.1 The firelookout.com page says it was destroyed in 1962.2 The Forest Lookouts page says the Forest Service burned the lookout in 1963.3 The sources disagree on the year and on whether it was taken down or burned.1,2,3

No source we read describes what, if anything, is left at the site today, and none says whether the public can visit. The register includes a 2007 photo labelled as the lookout site, with no further description.1 Ask the Oregon Department of Forestry before going.

  1. Ragsdale Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/ragsdale-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Ragsdale Butte Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/ragsdalebutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Ragsdale Butte, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/ragsdale-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Ragsdale Butte Lookout 1939 - 1962
Ragsdale Butte Lookout 1939 - 1962 (1939)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Ragsdale Butte Lookout site 2007
Ragsdale Butte Lookout site 2007 (2007)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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: ownership, 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, staffing, 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.