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Fire lookout · Grant County, Oregon

Tamarack Mountain Lookout

Also known as Tamarack Cabin

Umatilla NF lookout: a 1925 tree platform, a 1933 96-foot Aermotor tower, a 1966 cabin fire, and a converted shed rented on Recreation.gov today.

Visit & stay

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

Sleeps
Up to 4 people

Overview Tamarack Cabin offers outdoor enthusiasts a quaint cabin with epic views atop Tamarack Mountain. The cabin can accommodate four guests, and a short walk through the trees awards a unique opportunity to view miles of the Umatilla National Forest from sunup to sundown. The site was originally used as a fire detection lookout. The original structure was a platform built on a high tree in 1925. It was replaced with a 96-foot Aermotor tower in 1933, and a neighboring cabin was built to house Forest Service employees. A utility shed was also built. When the cabin burnt down in 1966, the shed was converted into housing. That same shed is where guests can stay today. The tower is also still standing, and when the tower is staffed, visitors are welcome to climb up and enjoy the view. Recreation Over 26 miles of hiking and horseback riding trails on the Heppner Ranger District can be accessed from the cabin. Plentiful fishing opportunities abound in nearby streams and Bull Prairie Lake. Many roads are open to off-road vehicles, and 28 miles of designated trails are available. Other activities include hunting, wildlife viewing and bird watching. This site is not open in the winter. Facilities This cozy converted shed offers one room with amenities including propane lights, a heating stove and cook stove, refrigerator, cookware, silverware, and dishes. Furnishings consist of two sets of twin bunkbeds, a cabinet for clothes, table with four chairs, and a rocking chair on the small front porch. There is a picnic table and fire ring outside, though fire danger may restrict campfires, so check for conditions with the Ranger District prior to arrival. There is also a nearby outhouse. There is no water onsite, so visitors must bring plenty of water for drinking, cooking, and washing. Guests must bring food, water, ice chest and ice, bedding, toiletries, a first aid kit, flashlights, matches and all other basic camping gear. Natural Features At 4,979 feet above sea level, Tamarack Mountain overlooks the John Day River basin between Spray and Kimberly. The lookout and the mountain it tops are named after the western larch, a tree that is particularly plentiful in the Blue and Wallowa Mountains. Western tanagers and dusty flycatchers frequent the area and purple-blue spikes of lupine, white and pink yarrow and yellow balsamroot add bursts of color to the landscape. Nearby Attractions Spray is the nearest town with a general store, gas, and propane which is about a half hour drive away. Heppner is about one hour away with a larger variety of stores for your recreational needs. Off-road vehicle enthusiasts enjoy Morrow County OHV Park, located 14 miles north on HWY 207. There are some food options, ice, and propane for sale at this site.

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. Cabin rented through Recreation.gov (combination lock, sent with the reservation). Tower may be climbed only when it is staffed.

Can you climb it?
Yes
Road to the top?
Unknown
Trail
Tower visitors are welcome to climb only when it is staffed. Over 26 miles of hiking and horse trails can be reached from the cabin. Not open in winter.
Staffing
Unknown

Facts

Status
Standing
Type
Cab on a tower96-foot steel Aermotor tower with steel cab, replacing a 1925 tree platformThe design: Aermotor
Built of
Steel
Height
96 ft (29.3 m)
Elevation
4,979 ft (1,518 m)
Agency
US Forest Service, Umatilla National Forest
Land
Federal land
Location
Grant County, Oregon
Coordinates
44.87379, −119.66148
This entry
VerifiedResearched, then checked independently. Updated 19 Oct 2026.
Firefinder id
us-or-tamarack-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 4.0 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. 1921 EventArmy vocational trainee Frank Bloss took up the lookout post (July 1921 item); on one Tuesday in August 1921 he reported thirteen firesSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  2. 1925 BuiltPlatform built in a tree as the first fire lookout on the siteSources: nhlr.org, recreation.gov, firelookout.com
  3. 1931 EventHeppner newspaper item reports a new cabin erected for the lookout; NHLR dates the cabin to 1934Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  4. 1933 Built96-foot steel Aermotor tower with steel cab replaces the 1925 tree platformSources: nhlr.org, recreation.gov, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  5. 1934 BuiltCabin for Forest Service personnel (NHLR date)Source: nhlr.org
  6. 1935 EventGeorge Gillis, of the Lexington school faculty, had the summer lookout job (Aug 15, 1935 item)Source: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  7. 1938 FireLightning strike knocked keeper Max Buschke unconscious for an hour; his wife kept working and reported five firesSource: oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  8. No record between 1938 and 1966
  9. 1966 BurnedAccidental fire destroyed the living quarters cabin; garage/utility shed converted into the current cabin. Tower not affected.Sources: nhlr.org, recreation.gov, oregonlookouts.weebly.com
  10. No record between 1966 and 2021
  11. 2021 AlteredFriends of Blue Mountain Lookouts completed a stair replacement project in September 2021Source: nhlr.org
  12. 2021 Added to the National Historic Lookout RegisterRegistered October 4, 2021 as US 1516, OR 130Source: nhlr.org
  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 8 Oct 2026, fact-checked.

Tamarack Mountain, in Grant County, Oregon, got its first lookout in 1925, when a platform was built in a tree on the site.1,2 A steel tower replaced it in 1933.2,3 The sources agree that it is a 96-foot Aermotor, but a June 1933 newspaper called it a hundred feet high, and a 1935 item gave the top as 102 feet.2,3,4,1 A cabin for Forest Service staff was built alongside.3 The National Historic Lookout Register dates that cabin to 1934, but a January 1931 newspaper item already mentions a new cabin erected for the lookout.2,4

In 1921 Frank Bloss, an army vocational trainee, took the post, and one Tuesday that August he reported thirteen fires.4 In 1935 George Gillis, a member of the Lexington school faculty, had the summer lookout job.4 In the summer of 1938 a bolt of lightning knocked the keeper, Max Buschke, unconscious for an hour.4 His wife carried on his work and reported five fires set off by the storm.4

In 1966 an accidental fire destroyed the cabin.2,3 The garage was converted into living quarters, and that converted shed is the cabin people rent today.2,3,4 The tower was not lost and still stands.3 The Friends of Blue Mountain Lookouts replaced the stairs in September 2021.2

Recreation.gov rents the shed as Tamarack Cabin.3 It sleeps four, has no water on site, and is not open in winter.3 Visitors may climb the tower when it is staffed, and the NHLR describes that staffing as irregular.2,3 The NHLR registered the lookout in October 2021.2

  1. Tamarack Mtn. Fire Lookout Tower, Fire Lookout, https://www.firelookout.com/or/tamarack.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  2. Tamarack Mountain Lookout, National Historic Lookout Register, http://nhlr.org/lookouts/us/or/tamarack-mountain-lookout/ (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  3. Tamarack Cabin, Umatilla National Forest, Recreation.gov, https://www.recreation.gov/camping/campgrounds/234138 (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩
  4. Tamarack Mountain, Oregon Forest Lookouts, https://oregonlookouts.weebly.com/tamarack-mountain.html (accessed 2026-10-08). ↩

Photos

Tamarack Lookout - 2008
Tamarack Lookout - 2008 (2008)Photo: Ron Kemnow, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Tamarack Lookout - Residence Cabin
Tamarack Lookout - Residence CabinPhoto: US Forest Service, via National Historic Lookout Register (nhlr.org) · All rights reserved · source
Tamarack Mtn. L.O.
Tamarack Mtn. L.OPhoto: Rex Kamstra, via firelookout.com · source
Tamarack Mtn. living quarters
Tamarack Mtn. living quartersPhoto: Rex Kamstra, 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.

    • NHLR: 1933
    • firelookout.com -- Rex Kamstra's Forest Fire Lookout Page: 1925
    • Every Lookout in Oregon (Cheryl Hill): 1933

    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, 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: design, 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 LOOKOUTS -- western US (Ron Kemnow's weebly sites) Gave us: height 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
  7. 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
  8. 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.