FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Curry County, Oregon

Snow Camp Lookout

Also known as Snow Camp Mountain

A century-old lookout site whose 1958 cab burned in the 2002 Biscuit Fire and was rebuilt in 2004; now a Recreation.gov rental.

Visit & stay

You can rent this lookout for overnight stays through recreation.gov.

Overview Snow Camp Lookout sits at the peak of Snow Camp Mountain at an elevation of 4,223 feet, offering guests spectacular panoramic views of the surrounding area. The fire lookout is the most recent of three structures built atop Snow Camp Mountain. The structures onsite were used as fire lookouts and an Aircraft Warning System station during World War II. The original cabin was destroyed in the 2002 Biscuit Fire, a massive blaze that burned more than a half-million acres in Oregon and California, but was reconstructed just two years later. Today the lookout offers a unique lodging experience for guests seeking a bit of solitude and relaxation. Although the cabin offers some basic amenities, guests must bring a few of their own supplies to ensure an enjoyable stay. Recreation Hiking, mountain biking, stargazing, and wildlife viewing are popular among guests to this lookout. An important component of the historic fabric of the watershed is the trail system. Hikers may want to wander trails that originally followed older aboriginal routes. "Chief" Elwin Frye, a packer for the Forest Service, identified a portion of the Snow Camp Trail as an Indian travel route. The trail is one of the oldest in the Forest, and provides access to Windy Valley, a pristine mountain meadow with a small crystal clear creek. At night the lookout is an ideal setting for stargazing, as constellations and planets put on a dazzling display. Facilities The renovated fire lookout is a 15' x 15' structure, originally designed for one or two people. It is furnished with a double bed with a mattress, a table and chairs, cabinets and counter space for food preparation. It is also equipped with a wood-burning cook stove and a picnic table for outdoor dining. A pit toilet is located near the lookout. There is no water on site, so visitors must bring sufficient supplies for drinking, cooking and washing. Guests must also provide their own sleeping bags, sleeping pads, towels, dish soap, matches, cooking gear, toilet paper and garbage bags. Although visitors can drive within sight of the lookout, the 200-yard hike to the summit can be strenuous when carrying gear. The final 200 yards to the lookout are open to administrative traffic only. Natural Features On a clear day, guests at Snow Camp Lookout will see ocean waves crashing along Kellogg Beach, Point St. George and Castle Rock near Crescent City, California. Effects of the 2002 Biscuit Fire and the 2017 Chetco Bar Fire are obvious within the surroundings, though forested mountains and grassy hillsides dotted with pine trees extend from the lookout as well.

Book on recreation.gov

Rental details from recreation.gov, checked 19 Oct 2026. Rules, fees and seasons change, so confirm on the booking page before you go. Data source: ridb.recreation.gov

Access

Open to the public. Rentable via Recreation.gov; drive within sight of tower, then a 200-yard hike (final stretch closed to public vehicles); entry by combination lock.

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
No, you have to hike
Trail
Drive to within sight of the lookout, then hike the final 200 yards (public vehicles not permitted on that stretch).
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Ground-level cabR-6The design: R-6
Built of
WoodGoing by its design; no source says so in words.
Height
14 ft (4.3 m)
Elevation
4,161 ft (1,268 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Curry County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.34408, −124.16542
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 19 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-snow-camp

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

  1. 1910 Builtfirelookout.com dates the site's origin to a 1910 tent camp; NHLR instead dates the first lookout to 1917. Sources disagree.Source: firelookout.com
  2. 1917 BuiltNHLR states the first lookout was constructed in 1917.Source: nhlr.org
  3. 1924 Builtfirelookout.com states a 14x14-ft cabin was constructed in 1924.Source: firelookout.com
  4. No record between 1924 and 1958
  5. 1958 RebuiltPresent (pre-2002) R-6 flat cab constructed, per both NHLR and firelookout.com.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com
  6. No record between 1958 and 1991
  7. 1991 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register, April 1, 1991.Source: nhlr.org
  8. 2002 BurnedLookout destroyed by the Biscuit Fire in August 2002.Sources: recreation.gov, firelookout.com
  9. 2004 RebuiltReplacement rental cabin built two years after the fire.Sources: recreation.gov, firelookout.com
  10. 2004 Opened as a rentalAfter restoration the lookout was going back onto the rental list.Source: firelookout.org
  11. 2004 RestoredRestoration finished in 2004.Source: firelookout.org
  12. 2017 FireChetco Bar Fire also left visible effects on the surrounding landscape.Source: recreation.gov
  13. 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 4 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Snow Camp Mountain has carried a lookout in one form or another for well over a century. Accounts differ on exactly when it started: the National Historic Lookout Register says the first lookout went up in 1917, while firelookout.com traces it back further, to a tent camp in 1910 followed by a 14-by-14-foot cabin in 1924.1,2 Whichever date marks the true beginning, the current building is the third structure to stand on the summit.3 During World War II the site did double duty, watching for fires and also serving as an Aircraft Warning System station scanning the coast for enemy aircraft.3

The lookout that most visitors think of as "Snow Camp" was an R-6 flat-top cab built in 1958, which went on to be listed on the National Historic Lookout Register in 1991 and later worked as a Forest Service recreation rental.1,2 That building burned in August 2002, destroyed by the Biscuit Fire, a massive blaze that eventually scorched more than half a million acres across southern Oregon and northern California.3,2 The Forest Service rebuilt a replacement cabin on the same spot just two years later, in 2004, and that is the structure standing today.3,2

Snow Camp sits on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest at an elevation of roughly 4,200 feet, on a summit shaped as much by fire as by its lookout history: the surrounding landscape still bears the marks of both the 2002 Biscuit Fire and the 2017 Chetco Bar Fire.3 On a clear day the view stretches to the Pacific, taking in Kellogg Beach, Point St. George, and Castle Rock near Crescent City, California.3

Today the 15-by-15-foot cabin is rented out through Recreation.gov, run by the Gold Beach Ranger District.3 Guests can drive within sight of the lookout, but the final 200 yards to the summit are closed to public vehicles and have to be hiked in on foot, which can be a strenuous climb with gear.3 There's no water on site, so renters need to pack in their own, and entry is by a combination lock whose code comes with the booking confirmation.3

  1. Snow Camp Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/snow-camp-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  2. Snow Camp Fire Lookout Cabin, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/snowcamp.html (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩
  3. Snow Camp Lookout, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Recreation.gov, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234159 (accessed 2026-10-04). ↩

Photos

Snow Camp Lookout - 2008
Snow Camp Lookout - 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Snow Camp L.O. 1958-2002
Snow Camp L.O. 1958-2002 (1958)Photo: Steve Paynter, via firelookout.com · source
Snow Camp in 2005
Snow Camp in 2005 (2005)Photo: Steve Paynter, 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.

    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1924
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 2004

    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, 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. Recreation Information Database (recreation.gov) Gave us: ownership, access, rental details, links Data source: ridb.recreation.gov · Public data from the US government · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  4. Forest Fire Lookout Association: lookout rentals Gave us: rental details, links Forest Fire Lookout Association rentals list (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts extracted only (state, name, booking link, manager, closure note), no prose copied. The FFLA says it is not involved in managing any rental program. · retrieved 19 Oct 2026
  5. firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page Gave us: what it is built of, design, height, dates, 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
  6. Forest Fire Lookout Association chapter reports Gave us: dates, links Forest Fire Lookout Association, chapter and restoration-grant reports (firelookout.org) · No licence stated; facts only (dates, names, the kind of work done). Every note is our own wording and every event links to the FFLA report it comes from. Positions are copied from the NHLR, FFLOS and FFLA records. · retrieved 8 Oct 2026
  7. 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
  8. 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
  9. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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.