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Fire lookout · Douglas County, Oregon

Steamboat Point Lookout Site

Steamboat Point lookout, Douglas County, OR: 15-foot tower built 1933 in Umpqua NF, staffed 1937, removed or destroyed 1965. No source describes the site now.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Removed in 1965 per firetower.org, destroyed that year per firelookout.com. 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
Cab on a tower15-foot tower; L-5 per firetower.org and firelookout.com, L-4 cab per Oregon LookoutsThe designs: L-4, L-5
Built of
Wood
Built
1933
Height
15 ft (4.6 m)
Elevation
2,956 ft (901 m)
Agency
Umpqua National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Douglas County, Oregon
Coordinates
43.34722, −122.71282 sources disagree
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-steamboat-point

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 its recorded height.

Downloads about 4.1 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. 1933 Built15-foot tower built one half mile west of the summitSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1933 EventPanorama photographs taken by Lester Moe, August 19, 1933Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1937 StaffedJack Hutchins returned to resume lookout work after a few weeks fighting a fire at Randle, Washington (Roseburg News-Review, August 17, 1937)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. No record between 1937 and 1965
  5. 1965 Removedfiretower.org: removed in 1965; firelookout.com: destroyed in 1965; Oregon Lookouts gives no yearSources: firetower.org, firelookout.com, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. No record between 1965 and 2011
  7. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterRegistered March 30, 2011 as US 909, OR 276Source: firetower.org
  8. 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.

The Steamboat Point lookout stood in Douglas County, in the Umpqua National Forest, about half a mile west of the summit at 2,956 feet.1,2

According to Oregon Lookouts, the Roseburg Chieftain reported in September 1933 that the Civilian Conservation Corps was to build a 14-by-14 lookout before the snow flew.3 The same history says a 15-foot round fir timber tower with an L-4 cab was built that year.3 It is not clear whether that is the structure the paper described. The Former Fire Lookout Sites register and firelookout.com instead describe a 15-foot pole tower of the L-5 type, built in 1933.1,2 Lester Moe took panorama photographs there in August 1933.3

The Roseburg News-Review reported in August 1937 that Jack Hutchins was back at the Steamboat Point lookout after several weeks fighting a fire at Randle, Washington.3

The Former Fire Lookout Sites register says the tower was removed in 1965.1 Firelookout.com says it was destroyed that year.2 The Oregon Lookouts history says only that it was removed, with no date.3 The association's county list also marks the tower Gone.4

No source I found describes what, if anything, remains at the site today, or whether the public can reach it.1,2,3 Anyone planning a visit should check with the Umpqua National Forest first.

  1. Steamboat Point Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/steamboat-point-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Steamboat Point Fire Lookout Tower, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://www.firelookout.com/or/steamboatpoint.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Steamboat Point, Forest Lookouts, Oregon Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/steamboat-point.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Oregon Lookouts (by County), Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/or-co/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Photo of Steamboat Point Lookout Site
Photo: 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.

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 950 m.

    • FFLOS: 43.34722, −122.71282
    • FOREST LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites): 43.34610, −122.72440

    The map uses the position from FFLOS.

Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, 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: design, 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. Firefinder research Gave us: summary, design, height, 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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