FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Douglas County, Oregon

Red Mountain Lookout Site

Douglas Co., OR site in the Umpqua NF: crow's nest c.1920, D-6 cupola cabin 1928, staffed into the 1960s; cabin moved to Tiller Ranger Station in 1985 and displayed there.

The lookout that stood here was moved. Now at Tiller Ranger

Moved: The structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. Cabin moved to the Tiller Ranger Station in 1985 and is described as on display there. No source describes the Red Mountain site today.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. The cabin is an historic exhibit at the Tiller Ranger Station per NHLR, and the Weebly history says it is on display there. The sources give no opening hours, and we did not check the site.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Moved
Type
Ground-level cabD-6 cupola cabin that replaced an earlier crow's nest in a treeThe design: D-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1920
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,797 ft (1,462 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service, Umpqua National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Douglas County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.77195, −123.01254
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-red-mountain-2

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.

The structure was moved. This view is from the position Firefinder shows for this record, at a typical height for a lookout like it.

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. 1920 BuiltCrow's nest set up on the summit about 1920 (FFLOS); NHLR calls it a tree tower built by the Umpqua National Forest in about 1920.Sources: firetower.org, nhlr.org
  2. 1922 StaffedA June 1922 newspaper item describes Mr. and Mrs. Looney at the station; the earliest staffing item we found.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1925 StaffedGeorge Newman placed in the lookout station temporarily during a dry spell (November 1925).Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1928 Replaced by a new structureD-6 cupola cabin replaced the crow's nest. An August 1929 item describes progress on the new lookout house, so the build year is not settled (see resolved_conflicts).Sources: firetower.org, nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  5. 1930 StaffedFebruary 1930 item: H. P. Looney has received his commission for the 1930 season; a standard lookout house had replaced the tent once used.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1930 and 1985
  7. 1985 MovedCabin moved to the Tiller Ranger Station as a display.Sources: firetower.org, nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1985 RestoredNHLR says the cabin has been restored as an historic exhibit after its 1985 move. No separate restoration year is given.Source: nhlr.org
  9. No record between 1985 and 2011
  10. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered on the Former Fire Lookout Sites register as US 896, OR 263 on March 28, 2011.Source: firetower.org
  11. 2011 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register as US 911, OR 116 on August 16, 2011.Source: nhlr.org
  12. Date unknown MovedThe lookout was moved to Tiller Ranger.Source: FFLA
  13. TodayMovedThe structure was moved. The map shows where it stands now; the timeline says where it came from. When it came down is not recorded.

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.

Red Mountain is a lookout site in the Umpqua National Forest, in Douglas County, Oregon.1 The first lookout there was a tree tower, built by the forest in about 1920.1,2 A D-6 cupola cabin replaced it in 1928.1,2

Newspaper items from the 1920s and early 1930s name the lookout as H. P. Looney, also given as Henry Looney.3 A 1922 item describes Mr. and Mrs. Looney at the station, and a 1926 item notes that he had charge of it for a third summer.3 When a dry spell hit in November 1925, George Newman was placed in the station for a time.3

A February 1930 item says a standard lookout house had replaced the tent once used. An August 1929 item describes progress on the new lookout house. The sources do not settle whether the house was finished in 1928 or 1929.3,1

The Register says the lookout was staffed into the 1960s.2

In 1985 the cabin went to the Tiller Ranger Station and was set up as a display.1,4 The Register reports that the cabin was restored after the move and is now a historic exhibit there.2

Today the Weebly history says the cabin is on display at the Tiller Ranger Station.3 The sources do not give opening hours. We found no source that describes the Red Mountain summit today, so we cannot say what remains there.

  1. Red Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/red-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Red Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/red-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Red Mountain, Forest Lookouts (Oregon), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/red-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Red Mtn. Fire Lookout Cabin, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/redmtnor.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Red Mountain Lookout Site
Photo: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Cupola cabin after it was moved to Tiller Ranger Station
Cupola cabin after it was moved to Tiller Ranger StationPhoto: Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Original crow's nest in 1924
Original crow's nest in 1924 (1924)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. 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
  5. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, status, agency, access, 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.