Fire lookout · Wasco County, Oregon
Sidwalter Mountain Lookout
Also known as Sidwalter Butte
Warm Springs Reservation lookout in Wasco County, OR; build year 1965 or 1967 depends on source; NHLR-registered 2008; reservation section closed to public access.
- Standing
- Closed
- Verified
Closed
The site is closed to visitors. NHLR says a section of the reservation is closed to public access; the Oregon list marks the site not accessible to the public
Visit & stay
Not rentable. As far as we know, this lookout cannot be booked for overnight stays.
Access
Closed. See the warning at the top of this page.
- Can you climb it?
- Unknown
- Road to the top?
- Unknown
- Staffing
- Staffed during fire season (as of 2026-07)
Facts
- Status
- Type
- Cab on a tower107-foot Aermotor tower with 7 by 7 foot metal cab per NHLR; firelookout.com gives a 90-foot steel tower with 7x7 foot cabThe design: Aermotor
- Built of
- Steel
- Built
- 1965 sources disagree
- Height
- 107 ft (32.6 m)
- Elevation
- 3,610 ft (1,100 m)
- Agency
- Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
- Land
- Tribal land
- Location
- Wasco County, Oregon
- Coordinates
- 44.91400, −121.53338 sources disagree
- Registers
- This entry
- VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
- Firefinder id
us-or-sidwalter-mountain
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 3.7 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
- 1965 Builtfirelookout.com and the July 2026 Oregon list give 1965Sources: firelookout.com, cherylhill.net
- 1967 BuiltNHLR gives 1967 (constructed)Source: nhlr.org
- No record between 1967 and 1987
- 1987 AlteredRenovated: new window and steps, walls, ceilings and paneling; living quarters remodeledSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
- No record between 1987 and 2008
- 2008 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered June 18, 2008 as US 739, OR 111Source: nhlr.org
- 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 (opens another site) (click the spot there to list them, with dates and downloads).
Story
Researched 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.
Sidwalter Mountain Lookout, which other sources call Sidwalter Butte, stands on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Wasco County, Oregon. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs administer it.1,2
The build year is disputed. The Register says the tower was constructed in 1967 and describes it as a 107-foot Aermotor tower with a metal cab.1 Firelookout.com and a 2026 Oregon list both give 1965, and firelookout.com describes a 90-foot steel tower with a 7-by-7-foot cab.2,3 The sources do not explain the gap, so both figures are reported as they appear.
Firelookout.com says the tower was manned, and the July 2026 Oregon list marks it as staffed.2,3 The sources read do not say who worked there or which fires it watched.
A 1987 renovation refreshed the walls, ceilings and paneling, added a new window and steps, and remodeled the living quarters.4 The Register lists June 18, 2008 as the registration date, under the number US 739, OR 111.1
The tower is still standing.5 The Register says the reservation section where it stands is closed to public access, and the Oregon list marks the site as not accessible to the public.1,3
- Sidwalter Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/sidwalter-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Sidwalter Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/sidwalterbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Oregon's Standing Lookouts, cherylhill.net, https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/oregons-standing-lookouts/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Wasco County, Forest Lookouts (oregonlookouts.weebly.com), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/wasco-county.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
- Oregon lookout list, Forest Fire Lookout Association (firelookout.org), https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
Photos
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.
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 location by 1.4 km (0.9 mi).
- NHLR: 44.91400, −121.53338
- FFLA: 44.92621, −121.53932
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 44.92621, −121.53932
They share a register number.
The map uses the position from NHLR.
Sources disagree on the year it was built.
- NHLR: 1967
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1965
- Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1965
Sources give different build years. Often one counts the first lookout on the site and another the structure there now.
Sources
- National Historic Lookout Register (NHLR) (opens another site) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, register numbers, agency, ownership, access, 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
- Forest Fire Lookout Association (FFLA) - US lookout lists (opens another site) 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
- firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page (opens another site) Gave us: what it is built of, height, 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
- Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) (opens another site) 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
- Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, status, agency, access, 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
- NHLR register entry US 739 (nhlr.org) (opens another site)
- Wasco County - Forest Lookouts (Forest Lookouts (oregonlookouts.weebly.com)) (opens another site)
- FFLA Oregon lookout list (firelookout.org) (opens another site)
- Sidwalter Butte on firelookout.com (Rex Kamstra) (opens another site)
- Sidwalter Butte on Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill) (opens another site)
Firefinder takes facts (places, dates, numbers) from these sources and writes its own words. See all sources and licences.