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Fire lookout · Linn County, Oregon

Slate Rock Lookout Site

Linn County, OR L-5 cab built 1935 on the Willamette NF; staffed in 1944 per newspapers; gone by 1965; no source describes the site today.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Cab gone by 1965; no source describes what remains

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.

Road to the top?
Unknown

Facts

Status
Gone
Type
Ground-level cabL-5 cabThe design: L-5
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Built
1935
Height
Unknown
Elevation
4,523 ft (1,379 m)
Agency
U.S.Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Linn County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.64389, −122.25513
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-slate-rock

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 3.6 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. 1934 EventPanorama photographs taken in May 1934Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1935 BuiltL-5 cab built in 1935; Forest Lookouts says the CCC constructed a 10 x 10 L-5 lookout houseSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1944 StaffedSummer 1944 newspaper item: a Mill City high school worker served on Slate Rock; an August item says another worker was relieved from itSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1947 EventCoast and Geodetic Survey description places the lookout house about 8 miles airline southwest of Detroit on a low, long, timber-covered ridgeSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. No record between 1947 and 1965
  6. 1965 RemovedGone by 1965Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. No record between 1965 and 2011
  8. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered May 13, 2011 as US 990, OR 348Source: firetower.org
  9. 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.

Slate Rock was a lookout on the Willamette National Forest in Linn County, Oregon, about eight miles southwest of Detroit as the crow flies.1,2,3 The register gives its elevation as 4,523 feet.1

Panorama photographs were taken there in May 1934.3 The cab was built in 1935, and the Forest Lookouts page says the CCC constructed a 10-by-10 L-5 lookout house.1,2,3

Two 1944 newspaper items name people working the post.3 One said two Mill City high school boys were working for the forestry department that summer, and that one of them served on the Slate Rock lookout.3 A later August item said a worker had been relieved from the lookout after some time there.3 The two items name different men, so the record of who staffed the lookout is unclear.3

The register and firelookout.com both say the cab was gone by 1965.1,2 The Forest Lookouts page marks the site as removed.3

A 1947 Coast and Geodetic Survey description placed the lookout house on a long, low ridge with timber cover. It described a single-story building with a pointed roof.3

No source we read describes what remains at the site now, or whether it is open to visitors.

  1. Slate Rock Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/slate-rock-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Slate Rock Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/slaterock.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Slate Rock - Forest Lookouts, Forest Lookouts (Oregon), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/slate-rock.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Slate Rock Lookout 1956
Slate Rock Lookout 1956 (1956)Photo: Dave Smith photo, Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Slate Rock Lookout 1943
Slate Rock Lookout 1943 (1943)Photo: Ron Kemnow collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Slate Rock Lookout 1944
Slate Rock Lookout 1944 (1944)Photo: Ron Kemnow 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, 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: what it is built of, 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, 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

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