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Fire lookout · Jackson County, Oregon

Rustler Peak Lookout

Rustler Peak in Jackson County: lookout site since 1913; present L-4 cab on a 1948 laminated timber tower; staffed in fire season as of 2021; standing in 2021.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Open to the public. Cheryl Hill's standing list marks it accessible to the public. Forest roads reach a gate; the last mile is a gated road walk. Staffed by a lookout attendant in fire season.

Can you climb it?
No
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Park in a pullout before the gate and walk the last mile. Climb the tower only if the attendant invites you.
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 2021)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerL-4 14 by 14 foot cab on a laminated timber towerThe designs: L-4, D-6
Built of
Wood
Height
31 ft (9.6 m)
Elevation
6,154 ft (1,876 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Jackson County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.61917, −122.34837
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-rustler-peak

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 3.6 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. 1913 EventRegister says the site was a full lookout by 1913, first lookout named in the Register entrySource: nhlr.org
  2. 1917 BuiltPre-cut D-6 lookout house assembled in July 1917; a 1917 Ashland report said it would sit on an 18-foot steel towerSources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com, theroamingcivic.com
  3. 1920 AlteredD-6 cupola cabin on a 10-foot steel tower; firelookout.com dates it 1920, the Register says 1920sSources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  4. 1934 StaffedMrs. Blossom Smith went to live at the station for the summerSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1940 AlteredCCC spent $600 on lookout construction; the cupola was raised onto a towerSources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1940 StaffedLookout posted because of lightning danger, May 29Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1948 Built'Built' field on NHLR detail pageSource: NHLR register entry
  8. 1948 EventSite of the first solar-powered radio system in a Forest Service lookoutSource: nhlr.org
  9. 1948 Replaced by a new structurePresent L-4 cab on a laminated timber tower, 31 feet 6 inches per Register and Forest Lookouts (firelookout.com says 30 feet)Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1960 StaffedMr. and Mrs. Howard Greer manning the lookout; had manned it for three years by September 1960Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. No record between 1960 and 1997
  12. 1997 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered April 28, 1997 as US 217, OR 27Source: nhlr.org
  13. 2006 AlteredContractors installed a modern vault toilet at the siteSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  14. 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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Rustler Peak is a fire lookout in Jackson County, Oregon, on the Rogue River National Forest.1,2 The Register gives its elevation as 6,154 feet, while firelookout.com and Cheryl Hill's standing list say 6,208 feet.1,2,3

The Register says the summit was a full lookout by 1913.1 In 1917 the Forest Service set up a pre-cut D-6 house there, and an Ashland paper reported that it would stand on an 18-foot steel tower.1,4 The Register and firelookout.com describe a 10-foot steel tower under a D-6 cupola in the 1920s, and a 2021 trip report also gives 18 feet for the 1917 structure, so the sources disagree about that earlier tower.1,2,5

According to the Register, the Civilian Conservation Corps put $600 into lookout construction in 1940, the year the cupola was raised onto a tower.1,4 In 1948 an L-4 cab went onto a laminated timber tower, which the Register and Forest Lookouts put at 31 feet 6 inches.1,4 The Register also notes a first for the 1948 lookout: it hosted a solar-powered radio system, the earliest such system in a Forest Service lookout.1 Firelookout.com says 30 feet.2

A June 1934 item reports that Mrs. Blossom Smith spent the summer living at the station.4 In May 1940 a lookout was posted there because of lightning danger.4 A September 1960 item says Mr. and Mrs. Howard Greer had manned the station for three years, and calls the summit the key lookout for the Butte Falls district, which sent out coded weather reports and received check calls from handi-talkie radios.4

As of a 2021 trip report, the lookout was staffed every fire season.5 Firelookout.com says it is staffed every summer and is listed on the National Historic Lookout Register.2 Cheryl Hill's list marks it staffed and accessible to the public, though the list may be out of date.3

The 2021 writer parked in a pullout before a gate and walked the last mile, which is a gated road.5 The writer did not get to look over the cab that day, and advised climbing the tower only when invited up.5 Forest Lookouts notes a 2006 contractor job that installed a modern vault toilet at the site.4 The trip report also says the lookout is currently standing and that the previous lookout was no longer on the summit when the writer visited.5

Check with the Butte Falls Ranger District before visiting, as the most recent visit described here dates from August 2021.1,5

  1. Rustler Peak Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/rustler-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Rustler Peak Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/rustlerpeak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Oregon standing lookouts list, Every Lookout in Oregon (cherylhill.net), https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/oregons-standing-lookouts/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Rustler Peak, Forest Lookouts (oregonlookouts.weebly.com), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/rustler-peak.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  5. Rustler Peak Lookout, The Roaming Civic (theroamingcivic.com), https://theroamingcivic.com/tag/rustler-peak-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Rustler Peak Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Rustler Peak in 1942
Rustler Peak in 1942 (1942)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the Dave Bula collection, and Howard Verschoor, via firelookout.com · source
Rustler Peak in 1948
Rustler Peak in 1948 (1948)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum, the Dave Bula collection, and Howard Verschoor, via firelookout.com · source
Rustler Peak L.O.
Rustler Peak L.OPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum, the Dave Bula collection, and Howard Verschoor, via firelookout.com · source

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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: 1948
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1917
    • 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, register numbers, agency, ownership, 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. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, staffing, 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
  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. 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
  6. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, staffing, 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.