FirefinderFire lookouts of the US

Fire lookout · Grant County, Oregon

Snow Mountain Lookout

Standing R-6 cab on a 10-foot tower, built 1961 on the Snow Mountain summit; staffed each summer and listed as staffed in 2026.

Visit & stay

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

Access

Restricted access

Access is seasonal, gated or needs a permit. Check before you go. Staffed Forest Service lookout. The site is legally accessible to the public, but that does not mean access to the lookout itself.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Unknown
Staffing
Staffed during fire season (as of 2026-07)

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a towerR-6The designs: R-6, L-4, Cupola house, D-5 (4-AR)
Built of
Wood
Height
10 ft (3.0 m)
Elevation
8,121 ft (2,475 m)
Agency
U.S. Forest Service
Land
Federal land
Location
Grant County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.97042, −119.49608
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-snow-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 3.6 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. 1915 BuiltLookout house established at the summit; the register calls the first station a cupola lookout.Sources: nhlr.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1920 FireLightning storm set eleven fires across the district and burned out telephone parts at the station.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1927 StaffedAl Frey needed to man the lookout through September 1927.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1928 StaffedJune 1928 notice: a Pacific University student to occupy the lookout.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1930 Replaced by a new structureNew cab on a concrete foundation. Register and firelookout say L-4 ground house; the 1930 newspaper says R-1 Aladdin Jr.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1938 StaffedRoy Nolen is lookout forest guard on the mountain (August 1938 newspaper).Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1944 FireTwelve fires reported from the station.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1944 and 1961
  9. 1961 BuiltPresent R-6 cab on a 10-foot treated timber tower; start work order August 1, final inspection August 24. An October 1961 memo reports rapid deterioration of the concrete footings.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1961 and 2003
  11. 2003 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on March 31, 2003.Source: nhlr.org
  12. No record between 2003 and 2026
  13. 2026 StaffedListed as staffed in the July 2026 directory.Source: cherylhill.net
  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.

Snow Mountain's summit has carried a lookout since at least 1915, when a lookout house was established there within the Ochoco National Forest.1 In August 1920 a lightning storm set eleven fires across one ranger's district and burned out some of the station's telephone parts.1 The ranger reportedly fitted a spare ignition coil from an old Ford and got the instrument working.1

The early cabins are described differently. The register says a cupola lookout from 1915 and an L-4 ground house from 1930 were both replaced by the present cab.2 The firelookout page also gives an L-4 cab for 1930.3 A September 1930 newspaper report calls the new house an R-1 Aladdin Jr. type, and says the old cabin, built in 1914, was torn down to make room for it.1

The present cab went up in 1961.2,3 The register and firelookout both describe a flat-topped R-6 cab on a 10-foot treated timber tower.2,3,1 Contract records show a start work order for August 1, 1961, and a final inspection on August 24.1 An October 1961 memo reported that the concrete footings were already deteriorating.1

Lookouts have manned the station since at least 1927.1 A June 1928 notice said a Pacific University student would occupy the lookout, and in 1938 Roy Nolen was lookout forest guard on the mountain.1 The station reported twelve fires in 1944.1 The register describes the lookout as manned and in a busy fire zone,2 and the firelookout page says it is manned each summer.3 The 2026 directory still lists it as staffed.4

The register listed Snow Mountain on March 31, 2003.2 Today the cab still stands.4 The directory lists the site as legally accessible to the public, but it notes that this does not mean access to the lookout itself.4 Because the cab is a working station, treat it that way: check with the district office before going up.

  1. Snow Mountain, Oregon Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/snow-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Snow Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/snow-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Snow Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/snowmtn97.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Oregon's Standing Lookouts, Cheryl Hill, https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/oregons-standing-lookouts/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Photo of Snow Mountain Lookout
Photo: National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Snow Mtn. in 1929
Snow Mtn. in 1929 (1929)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Snow Mtn. in 1940
Snow Mtn. in 1940 (1940)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Snow Mtn. in 1944
Snow Mtn. in 1944 (1944)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Snow Mtn. in 1961
Snow Mtn. in 1961 (1961)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Snow Mtn. in 1961
Snow Mtn. in 1961 (1961)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Snow Mtn. in 1961
Snow Mtn. in 1961 (1961)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Snow Mtn. in 1961
Snow Mtn. in 1961 (1961)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Snow Mtn. in 1961
Snow Mtn. in 1961 (1961)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Snow Mtn. in 1984
Snow Mtn. in 1984 (1984)Photo: the U.S. Forest Service and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Snow Mtn. L.O.
Snow Mtn. L.OPhoto: the U.S. Forest Service and Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · 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.

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: 1961
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1915
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1961

    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, what it is built of, 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: design, 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: 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. 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, 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.