FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Hood River County, Oregon

Rimrock South Lookout Site

Also known as Rim Rock

Gone: 1929 camp, 1930 cabin and platform tower, removed or destroyed in 1950 (sources differ); a 2022 hiker reached the former site on foot.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1950, or destroyed that year; sources differ. No source describes the site now.

Visit & stay

Gone: site only. The lookout no longer stands, so there is nothing to climb or rent. You may still be able to visit the site.

Access

Open to the public. Reached on foot along a forest trail, per a 2022 hike report. No agency statement on access was found.

Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
About 1.75 miles past the Shellrock Mountain trailhead, then an unmarked side trail (2022 hike report).

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a towerL-4The design: L-4
Built of
Not recorded
Built
1930
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,200 ft (1,280 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Hood River County, Oregon
Coordinates
45.48849, −121.52292
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-rimrock-south

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 3.5 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. 1929 EventCamp set up at the siteSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  2. 1930 BuiltUSFS built a cabin and platform towerSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  3. 1930 EventPanorama photos taken July 21, 1930Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1933 BuiltLater source dates a 14x14 L-4 lookout house to c.1933Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1933 EventPanorama photos taken Nov 11, 1933 by James RittenhouseSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1933 and 1950
  7. 1950 RemovedRegister says removed; firelookout.com says destroyedSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  8. No record between 1950 and 2010
  9. 2010 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered Sept 20, 2010; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  10. 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.

Rimrock South, also written Rim Rock, is a former lookout site on the Mount Hood National Forest in Hood River County, Oregon, at about 4,200 feet.1,2,3 The site had a camp in 1929, and in 1930 the U.S. Forest Service put up a cabin and a platform tower there.1,2 A guide to Oregon lookouts dates a 14-by-14 L-4 lookout house to around 1933.4 Panorama photos were taken at the site on July 21, 1930, and again on November 11, 1933.4

The sources do not fully agree on how it ended. The Former Fire Lookout Sites register says the tower was removed in 1950, while firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year.1,2 A third listing gives only the word "removed," with no date.4

No source I found describes what, if anything, is left on the ground today.3 A hiking blog describes a late-May 2022 hike that reached the former site along the Surveyor's Ridge Trail, about 1.75 miles from the Shellrock Mountain trailhead, by way of an unmarked side trail.3 The post mentions no remains, and the trail is popular with mountain bikers.3

  1. Rimrock South Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/rimrock-south-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Rimrock South Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/rimrocksouth.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Rim Rock Fire Lookout, wanderingyuncks, https://wanderingyuncks.com/tag/rim-rock-fire-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Rimrock - Forest Lookouts, Oregon Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/rimrock.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Rimrock South Lookout panoramic 11-11-1933
Rimrock South Lookout panoramic 11-11-1933 (1933)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Rimrock South Lookout panoramic 11-11-1933
Rimrock South Lookout panoramic 11-11-1933 (1933)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Rimrock South Lookout panoramic 10-6-1933
Rimrock South Lookout panoramic 10-6-1933 (1933)Photo: National Archives-Pacific Northwest Region, via 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, 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: design, 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, 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.