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Fire lookout · Klamath County, Oregon

Spring Butte Lookout

Spring Butte's 1932 L-4 lookout was replaced by a 41-foot octagonal-cab pole tower in 1991 or 1992; a 2025 visitor report says staffing ended in 2024 (unconfirmed).

Visit & stay

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

Access

Access unknown

We do not know the access rules. Check with the land manager before you go.

Can you climb it?
Unknown
Road to the top?
Yes, you can drive up
Trail
A June 2020 visitor found the gate open and drove to the top. No source read says whether the public may enter the cab.
Staffing
Staffed during fire season

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower41-foot pole tower with 16 by 16 foot octagonal cab (replaced the 1932 tower, which had an L-4 cab)The design: L-4
Built of
Wood
Height
41 ft (12.5 m)
Elevation
5,449 ft (1,661 m)
Agency
Deschutes National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Klamath County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.52324, −121.34800
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 8 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-spring-butte

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 3.5 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. 1932 BuiltFirst lookout on the site: a pole tower with an L-4 cab, reported at 28, 30 or 32 feet depending on the source.Sources: firelookout.com, cherylhill.net, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1936 FireA bolt struck near the lookout on May 27 and started a timber fire, checked by C. E. Hein, who was temporarily on duty.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1940 StaffedOperated by the Walker Range Patrol, staffed for 180 days and reporting to LaPine by telephone.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1950 FireLightning-caused spot fire west of Paulina Peak, put out by lookout Gene Roberts and Dave Adrian.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1955 RebuiltTower rebuilt using tamarack logs for the legs.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1955 and 1974
  7. 1974 AlteredCatwalk replaced.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1974 and 1990
  9. 1990 ClosedDetermined unsafe and closed until further notice.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. 1991 RemovedOriginal tower dismantled in September; parts inventoried and stored.Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  11. 1992 BuiltPresent 41-foot pole tower with 16 by 16 foot octagonal cab. Register Built field and firelookout.com say 1992; the Register text and a Sun item quoted by Oregon Lookouts point to 1991.Sources: nhlr.org, firelookout.com, cherylhill.net
  12. 1996 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered on the National Historic Lookout Register on May 30, 1996.Source: nhlr.org
  13. No record between 1996 and 2024
  14. 2024 Last staffedPer a 2025 visitor report, staffing ended after a failed September 2024 inspection. Not confirmed by other sources read.Source: cherylhill.net
  15. 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.

Spring Butte, in the Deschutes National Forest about 13 miles southeast of LaPine, got its first lookout in 1932.1 A Bend Bulletin item from that August, quoted by Oregon Lookouts, describes a 30-foot wooden tower with a lookout house, but the same page gives 28 feet in one place and 32 feet in another.2 Firelookout.com and Cheryl Hill both describe that first tower as a pole tower with an L-4 cab.1,3

In 1940 the Walker Range Patrol operated the lookout, which was staffed for 180 days and reported to LaPine by telephone.2 On May 27, 1936, a bolt hit close to the lookout and started a timber fire, which C. E. Hein, temporarily on duty there, controlled without much trouble.2 In July 1950 a lightning-caused spot fire west of Paulina Peak was put out by lookout Gene Roberts and Dave Adrian, who ran a sporting goods shop at Lapine.2

In 1955 the tower was rebuilt with tamarack-log legs, and in 1974 its catwalk was replaced.2 In 1990 the lookout was judged unsafe and shut until further notice.2 In September 1991 it was taken apart, and its parts were listed and kept in storage.2

The present tower is a 41-foot pole tower with a 16-by-16-foot octagonal cab.4,3 Sources disagree on when it went up.4,1,3,2 The Register gives 1992 as the build year, yet its own text says the tower was erected in 1991.4 Under its 1991 entry, Oregon Lookouts quotes a Sun item saying the cab went up on December 18th.2 Firelookout.com and Cheryl Hill both give 1992.1,3 The Register lists its registration date as May 30, 1996, and gives the site elevation as 5,449 feet.4

Firelookout.com says the tower is staffed every summer and that it is on the Register.1 Cheryl Hill visited on June 19, 2020, found the lookout listed as staffed, and reported that the gate was open and visitors could drive to the top.3 Her page also carries a 2025 visitor's account that links the end of staffing to a failed inspection in September 2024.3 The sources read do not confirm that report, so current staffing is unsettled. Anyone planning a visit should check with the Deschutes National Forest first, and should not climb a tower that is closed.

  1. Spring Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/springbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Spring Butte, Forest Lookouts (oregonlookouts.weebly.com), https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/spring-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Spring Butte, Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill), https://cherylhill.net/firelookouts/2020/06/30/spring-butte/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Spring Butte Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org), http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/spring-butte-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Spring Butte Lookout - 2007
Spring Butte Lookout - 2007 (2007)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Spring Butte Lookout - 1942
Spring Butte Lookout - 1942 (1942)Photo: Deschutes National Forest Archive, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Spring Butte in 1955
Spring Butte in 1955 (1955)Photo: the Fire Lookout Museum and Gary Weber, via firelookout.com · source
Spring Butte L.O.
Spring Butte L.OPhoto: the Fire Lookout Museum and Gary Weber, 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: 1992
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1932
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1992

    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, height, 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: 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: register numbers, 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, 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.