FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Grant County, Oregon

Sheep Mountain Lookout Site

Malheur NF lookout in Grant County, OR: a 20-ft L-4 tower built 1933 on Sheep Mountain, staffed into 1953; now gone, with no removal date in sources.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower gone; the Forest Lookouts page records its removal without a date, and no source describes the summit today

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. No source we read says whether the site is open to visitors

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Cab on a tower20-foot pole tower with L-4 cabThe design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Built
1933
Height
20 ft (6.1 m)
Elevation
7,728 ft (2,356 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Grant County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.25017, −118.48395
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-sheep-mountain

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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 4.1 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 Built20-foot native timber pole tower with an L-4 cabSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1936 StaffedCCC men staffed the lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1939 StaffedMax O'Brien, the telephone operator, was stationed there; Mrs. O'Brien was in charge of the switchboardSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1947 AlteredOld tower described as 'stubbed' in 1947 (1953 entry)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1953 Replaced by a new structureNew native wood tower placed under the existing houseSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1953 StaffedMr. and Mrs. Dick Martin and Mike stationed at the lookoutSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1953 and 2011
  8. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered July 16, 2011 as US 1090, OR 447; nominated by Ray KresekSource: firetower.org
  9. TodayGoneThe lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. 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.

The lookout stood on Sheep Mountain, at 7,728 feet (2,355 meters), in the Malheur National Forest of Grant County, Oregon.1 The Former Fire Lookout Sites register lists the site as US 1090 and records its registration on July 16, 2011.1

A 1932 item quoted on the Forest Lookouts page planned a new lookout house on the mountain, along with a telephone line.2 The tower that followed was built in 1933: a 20-foot pole with an L-4 cab.1,2 The firelookout.com page gives the pole as 15 feet instead.3 We have used the 20-foot figure, which the register and the Forest Lookouts page both give.1,2

The Forest Lookouts page records a few staffing snapshots.2 CCC men staffed the lookout in 1936.2 In 1939 Max O'Brien, the telephone operator, was stationed there, and Mrs. O'Brien was in charge of the switchboard.2 In July 1953 Mr. and Mrs. Dick Martin and Mike were stationed at the lookout.2

A 1953 entry on the same page says a new wooden tower had been set up beneath the existing house, after the old tower was "stubbed" in 1947.2

The register says the tower is now gone.1 The Forest Lookouts page marks it as removed, but records no date for that.2

We found no source that describes what, if anything, remains on the summit today.1,2,3 The Forest Lookouts page quotes a survey description, determined in 1933, which says a Forest Service disk marks the point, sunk in concrete just beneath the tower's center. It does not say whether that disk survives.2 No source we read says whether the site is open to visitors.1,2,3

  1. Sheep Mountain Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/sheep-mountain-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Sheep Mountain, Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/sheep-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Sheep Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/sheepmtn.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Sheep Mountain Lookout 1942
Sheep Mountain Lookout 1942 (1942)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Sheep Mountain Lookout 1956
Sheep Mountain Lookout 1956 (1956)Photo: Howard Verschoor collection, 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, 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: design, height, 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, height, 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.