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Fire lookout · Lake County, Oregon

Sycan Butte Lookout Site

Fremont NF lookout on Sycan Butte, Lake County OR, built 1931, replaced 1964, staffed to 1984; tower moved to Hogback Mountain 1987-88; site now gone.

Gone: The lookout no longer stands. Only the site is left. Tower moved to Hogback Mountain in 1987 or 1988; no source describes what remains at the Sycan Butte site

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 tower1931: 14x14 cabin on a timber pole tower (35 ft per register, 31 ft per local history); 1964: steel tower with wooden cab (28 ft per register, 30 ft per local history)The design: L-4
Built of
Steel
Built
1931
Height
35 ft (10.7 m)
Elevation
6,362 ft (1,939 m)
Agency
Klamath FPA
Land
Federal land
Location
Lake County, Oregon
Coordinates
42.86797, −121.01725
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 9 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-sycan-butte

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 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. 1931 BuiltFirst lookout built by the Fremont National Forest: 14x14 cabin on a timber tower with 50 stepsSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1944 StaffedHelen Johnson named as the lookout, a Fremont National Forest employeeSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  3. 1951 StaffedKFPA staffed and maintained the station, which sat on USFS landSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1964 Replaced by a new structureSteel tower built next to the old one, which was kept as a gin pole; register says 28 ft, local history says 30 ftSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1969 FireFive fires reported from the station in 1969Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  6. 1972 FireExplosion and resulting fire caused major damage to the interiorSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1984 Last staffedLast year the lookout was staffed; register says the tower was used for an emergency that yearSources: firetower.org, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. 1987 RemovedRegister and firelookout.com date the move to Hogback Mountain to 1987Sources: firetower.org, firelookout.com
  9. 1988 MovedTower re-erected on Hogback Mountain by ODF; local history, Hogback register entry, Herald and News and Hogback history date this to 1988Sources: oregonlookouts.weebly.com, nhlr.org, heraldandnews.com
  10. No record between 1988 and 2011
  11. 2011 Added to the Former Fire Lookout Sites RegisterDate registered per FFLOS detail page: June 12, 2011Source: FFLOS register entry
  12. 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.

Sycan Butte is a 6,362-foot summit in Lake County, Oregon, roughly twelve miles southwest of Summer Lake.1,2 In 1931 the Fremont National Forest built the first lookout there: a 14-by-14-foot cabin on a timber tower, with 50 steps to the top.3 When the site was chosen, a local paper called it an auxiliary lookout.3 The register gives that first tower as 35 feet tall, while the local history says 31.2,3

In 1964 a steel tower went up beside the old one, which was kept so it could serve as a gin pole.3 The register gives the steel tower as 28 feet, and the local history gives 30.2,3

A 1944 record names Helen Johnson as the lookout and says she worked for the Fremont National Forest.3 By 1951 the Klamath Forest Protective Association staffed and maintained the station, though it sat on Forest Service land.3 Five fires were reported from the station in 1969.3 In 1972 an explosion and fire badly damaged the lookout's interior.3 The last year it was staffed was 1984.3

The register says the tower was pressed into emergency use in 1984, then relocated to Hogback Mountain in 1987.2 Firelookout.com also gives 1987.1 Other sources date the move to 1988: the local history, the Hogback register entry, a local newspaper and a Hogback history.3,4,5,6 The Forest Fire Lookout Association lists the Sycan Butte tower as gone.7 No source I read describes what remains on the summit today, including whether footings are left or whether visitors can reach the site.

The steel tower now stands on Hogback Mountain, just east of Klamath Falls.4 The association lists it as standing.7 The National Historic Lookout Register calls it in active service.4 A local newspaper describes it as seasonally occupied.5 The most popular trail begins in the Foothills Christian Fellowship church lot on Patterson Street.5

  1. Sycan Butte Fire Lookout Tower, firelookout.com, https://www.firelookout.com/or/sycanbutte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  2. Sycan Butte Lookout Site, Former Fire Lookout Sites Register, http://firetower.org/lookouts/us/or/sycan-butte-lookout-site/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  3. Sycan Butte - Forest Lookouts, Oregon Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/sycan-butte.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  4. Hogback Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/hogback-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  5. Hiking the Hog, Herald and News, https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/local_news/hiking-the-hog/article_5429fa4d-1a75-5134-b212-34887b6217b2.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  6. Hogback Mountain - Forest Lookouts, Oregon Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/hogback-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩
  7. Oregon lookouts list, Forest Fire Lookout Association, https://firelookout.org/lookouts/us/or/ (accessed 2026-10-09). ↩

Photos

Sycan Butte Lookout
Sycan Butte LookoutPhoto: Howard Verschoor collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source
Sycan Butte Lookout
Sycan Butte LookoutPhoto: Rex Kamstra collection, via Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (firetower.org) · All rights reserved · source

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Sources

  1. Former Fire Lookout Sites Register (FFLOS) Gave us: name, location, county, elevation, what it is built of, register numbers, agency, 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: height, ownership, 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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